People's Bank of China, Administration of the Establishment of Same-city Service Points by Commercial Banks Measures

Promulgated: February 21 2002
Effective: as of date of promulgation
Interpreting authority: People's Bank of China (PBOC)
Applicability: For the purposes of these Measures, the term "commercial banks" means wholly State-owned commercial banks, share system commercial banks, urban commercial banks, branches of foreign banks, wholly foreign-owned banks and Sino-foreign equity joint venture banks (Article 2). "Same-city service points" means business sub-branches and self-service banking facilities (e.g. ATM, CDM, etc.) established by a commercial bank within the administrative area of the same city (Article 3).

Main contents: Same-city service points shall be subject to examination and approval by a branch of the PBOC or a central sub-branch of the PBOC authorized by such a branch (Article 8). It is a prerequisite for setting up a same-city sub-branch that the applicant bank has had an operating branch for at least one year in the city in which the proposed same-city sub-branch is to be set up (Article 5). A proposed same-city sub-branch shall have no less than Rmb10 million (or its equivalent in a freely convertible foreign currency) as operating funds (Article 6). In any particular city, the applicant bank may apply for only one same-city sub-branch at a time (Article 12). If the application is approved, the applicant bank shall set up the same-city sub-branch in six months or, if an extension is approved, nine months at a maximum (Article 13). In any particular city, a commercial bank may apply for only three self-service banks at a time (Article 20). In the case of ATMs that provide withdrawal, account transfer and inquiry services only, the applicant bank needs only to provide the required documents and file them with the authorized branch of the PBOC (Article 23).
Related legislation: PRC, Commercial Banking Law, May 10 1995, CLP 1995 No.5 p32 and PRC Administration of Foreign-funded Financial Institutions Regulations, Dec 12 2001, CLP 2002 No.1 p5