The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), the country's largest commercial bank, recorded a 127 percent rise in e-banking business last year, company sources said on Friday.

 

E-banking business was 102.9 trillion yuan (14.2 trillion U.S. dollars) in 2007, which meant ICBC was the first bank in China to pass the 100-trillion won level in e-banking, the sources said. The total included 89.9 trillion yuan in online business, up 136 percent, they added.

 

The bank was also first in China in the number of e-banking customers. Individual online customers increased by 15.83 million people to a total of 39.08 million and online corporate customers grew 376,000 to 980,000 companies.

 

The bank also saw its individual telephone customers rise by 11.08 million people to 34.4 million and corporate telephone customers go up 147,000 to 996,000 companies.

 

As of the end of 2006, ICBC had net assets of 530.8 billion yuan, with a capital adequacy ratio of 14.05 percent.

 

Media reports have said that last year, ICBC -- which is listed in both Hong Kong and Shanghai -- ranked first among world banks with total market capitalization of 337.2 billion U.S. dollars.

 

(Xinhua News Agency January 11, 2008)