The People’s Bank of China (PBC) has recently announced a series of measures to improve the efficiency of personal banking and payment services. One of the most significant improvements is to raise the daily cashing limit on ATM card from ￥5,000 to ￥20,000.

The central bank stated in the announcement dated May 20, 2007 that commercial banks streamline the procedure of transforming a personal saving account to a settlement account for various business payments, and simplify the process of payments made by businesses to individuals.

In an effort to boost the use of non-cash payment tools, the PBC will strengthen the expansion of the Bulk Electronic Payment System (BEPS), which was implemented in mid 2006 for low value transactions, to facilitate personal banking business such as cross-bank transfer and direct deposit. Personal check is also encouraged to be used in retail sector.

The ￥5,000 cashing limit on ATM came into effect ten years ago. By lifting it to ￥20,000 ($2,500), the PBC looks forward to ease off the queuing problem at bank’s branches.

By Chen Lei

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