The China Banking Association asked its member banks Thursday to reduce or even cancel some charges imposed on low-income earners.

The move is being regarded as a social corporate responsibility call to help ease the financial burden on financially-challenged people as inflation continues to rise rapidly.

According to the China Banking Association, banks have been asked to waive annual and management fees on small, special-purpose accounts pertaining to pensions, subsistence allowances, medical insurance, unemployment and housing funds.

Other fees that the association proposed be reduced or waived include the printing of balance statements.

The association is also urging banks to waive the minimum-deposit requirements on low-income account holders. Banks charge various fees if the account holder's minimum deposit falls below the required level.

Bank of China and the Agricultural Bank of China charge 3 yuan ($0.45) each quarter to manage accounts that hold deposits of less than 300 yuan ($45). And China Construction Bank sets 500 yuan ($75) as its required minimum, while China Merchants Bank charges a fee for any account with a balance of less than 10,000 yuan ($1,500).

Most large banks waive management fees on some small-denomination accounts, but not all of them.

Meanwhile, many customers have been charged fees without knowing it. A customer surprisingly found that the 100 yuan ($15) he had put into a bank account nine years ago had been reduced to 60 yuan ($9) after management fees were deducted, according to a Xinhua News Agency report in August.

Other smaller fees that banks charge include for the printout of bank statements. Customers must pay 10 yuan ($1.50) for each hardcopy of their bank statement every three-month period, said Li Lingquan, a customer service manager with the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Beijing.

The banking association's prodding might be in response to the government's call to relieve the financial burden on low wage earners amid inflation concerns, Tan Ruyong, a finance professor with the Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, told the Global Times.

Some people are finding that their savings are unable to cover the rising inflation seen nationwide, particularly on food prices, despite government initiatives to curb rising costs.

But unlike those government regulations, the banking association's advice is not legally binding, which means banks can choose whether or not to adopt it, Tan said.

"They (the banks) better behave themselves, or they'll be heavily supervised by the regulators," he added.

Banks are often criticized for inefficiency and poor services, as well as squeezing clients for petty cash while raking in huge profits each year.

Though Chinese bank charges are often relatively inexpensive, they can't charge new or higher fees without first improving their services, Tan said.