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Banks inching back to business

By Wang Zhenghua (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-05-26 09:16

No bullet-proof windows. No waiting area. A man shouts numbers into a microphone. Customers wait their turn in huge tents outside. The slightest tremor, even vibration from the mike, causes employees to sit up with a start for fear of another aftershock.

This is the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China's sub-branch in Dujiangyan, the first financial institution to re-open in the quake-hit area.

The May 12 quake paralyzed most of the financial institutions in the city and other areas in Sichuan. Those that continued to function did so from temporary shelters.

"I never thought I would have to work in such environs," says Xiao Tao, deputy director of the sub-branch, opposite the bank's damaged original outlet on Xingfu Avenue.

"But we were quick to respond to the disaster, and resumed operations only two days after the quake."

Officials pulled out the materials needed to run the branch either from under the debris of the collapsed building or sought them from their parent bodies.

The power supply is still interrupted in some parts of the city. So the bank has installed two generators to ensure constant power supply. Yet the "tent bank", spread over about 260 sq m, offers full services, ranging from retail and corporate banking to financial services for disaster relief work.

"We are doing our best to resume services as quickly as possible - and provide special services to those who have lost their ID cards, bank cards or passbooks in the quake," Xiao says.

Customers who have lost their ID cards and other identification documents, for instance, can withdraw up to 5,000 yuan ($714.3) as long as their relatives who have an account in the bank and still have their ID cards stand guarantors for them.

A lot of people have reported that they lost their ID cards and/or passbooks and bank documents in the quake.

But despite that, people have deposited about 8.16 million yuan in the bank since the quake because they want to keep their money safe, given the frequent aftershocks.

Officials said more such makeshift outlets are being built and ATM machines installed in the quake-hit areas.

Employees say about 200 customers visit the bank every day now, about the same number that used to before the quake.

"We work really hard, because the workload of a loss-making business is equal to that of five deposit or withdrawal transactions," said Wang Jin, who guides customers to proper "counters" to avoid bottlenecks.

"Don't worry, now we can at least help you with the certificate of the smaller deposit. The other two have yet to expire," she tells a customer enquiring about withdrawing money from the account of his mother, who lost her ID card and has been relocated to a relative's home outside the city.

"The bank is convenient and has resolved our financial difficulties," says Tian Shigui, visiting the bank for the first time after the quake. "You shouldn't expect anything luxurious after what has happened. We are lucky just to have the bank service."