After the Chinese New Year, many children received lucky money from their elders. To attract this money, many banks in China have introduced products such as children’s savings accounts and children’s debit cards. However, netizens revealed that the process of handling these banking services is quite inconvenient.
During the Chinese New Year period, giving red envelopes to children is a traditional custom in China. Therefore, every year after the New Year, children can receive some lucky money. Banks aim to attract this money into their institutions.
According to a report from Red Star News under the Chengdu Business Daily on February 8th, in order to attract the lucky money in the hands of children, many banks have launched children’s savings accounts and children’s debit card products. These children’s savings accounts are often designed in a lively and cute manner, some even incorporating the concept of “growth records” to attract both parents and children. Most banks offer children’s savings accounts with a low initial deposit amount, starting as low as 50 RMB to open an account. The interest rates on these deposits are mostly similar to regular fixed deposit rates, but some may offer higher rates. Some banks even offer small gifts such as stationery, electric pencil sharpeners, blind boxes, and Lego gift boxes for opening a children’s savings account and depositing a certain amount.
It is reported that various banks have introduced exclusive savings accounts for children under 16 years old, including Dongyang Rural Commercial Bank, Jiashan Rural Commercial Bank, Jinxiang Rural Commercial Bank, Yinghuai Rural Commercial Bank, Wencheng Rural Commercial Bank, Zhenjiang Rural Commercial Bank, Taizhou Bank, and Lucheng Rural Commercial Bank.
In response to this, mainland Chinese economist and financial expert Yu Fenghui told Red Star Capital Bureau that opening the children’s finance market is an effective way for banks to attract a younger customer base, which could bring in new user bases for banks and potentially develop long-term customer relationships.
Despite many banks offering services for children, the requirement for handling the necessary procedures has been criticized by many netizens for being cumbersome and inconvenient.
A netizen named “Nostalgia for Being Scatterbrained” disclosed, “I went to the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China three times, but I couldn’t deposit my son’s lucky money. At one point, I didn’t bring my household registration booklet, then my son’s ID was expired, and later my ID was not the latest version.”
A Tencent user with the handle 6l0ns3o also expressed, “I tried to deposit for my child yesterday but couldn’t. I needed to provide the household registration booklet to prove guardianship, and there were difficulties with card issuance and savings accounts. It’s really troublesome.”
There are also netizens who mentioned that due to the hassle, they simply withdrew the money.
“Happy Benefactor” said, “There are many troubles with children’s cards. Sometimes they require ID cards, household registration booklets, and when withdrawing, they ask for birth certificates. Later on, I simply withdrew all the money and put it in my own bank account. Most importantly, when the child grows up, especially when they turn 18 and want to withdraw the money, the bank will question, ‘Where did all this money come from?’ If you say it’s lucky money, who knows if the bank will try to tax it, or for various reasons, not allow or restrict the withdrawal. So, I decided to keep it in my own name and transfer it to the child when they are older.”