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How many minutes do you wait in bank?

By Chen Weihua (China Daily)
Updated: 2007-04-17 09:13

The pledge by eight Chinese banks in Shanghai to reduce queuing time for
its customers this week is welcome news.

The Shanghai Municipal Finance Industry Office recently brought together
16 Chinese banks to find ways to handle growing complaints from customers
about long queues.

According to a recent study of 100 local bank outlets, the average
customer queues for 52 minutes. And seven of the 16 banks reported an
average waiting time of over 30 minutes.

Not enough counters for individual services and poor management are among
the major problems at the banks, the study found.

An "ultimatum" issued by Shanghai's finance industry office last Friday
called on local banks to take measures to improve the situation, or face
punishment.

On Saturday, eight Chinese banks announced plans to rectify the
situation, including revamping outlets, optimizing business processes,
adding more staff and automatic banking equipment.

The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China said it would extend its
business hours, set up a non-stop service in all its outlets during lunch
hours and provide some evening services.

China Construction Bank said it would add more bank tellers as well as
350 automatic banking machines.

In the last few years, banks have paid more attention to high-end
customers the profit center of their business while ignoring the massive
number of low-end customers.

As a result, banking in Shanghai has become an unpleasant experience for
many customers. This is certainly damaging to a city that aspires to
become a financial center.

While profitability is important to banks, winning the respect of
customers big or small is crucial to the long-term survival and growth of
banks. In this sense, the Chinese banks are taking the right step this
week.

Foreign banks, which have big plans in China, should also bear this in
mind. They should not just keep their eyes on lucrative high-end
customers while shirking their responsibility to the rest of their
clients.

(China Daily 04/17/2007 page13)

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