Bank of Communications, China's fifth biggest lender, posted Monday its outstanding deposits had hit the one trillion yuan (about US$120 billion) mark by the end of last year, source said on Monday.

The bank's record deposits, denominated both in local and foreign currencies, came in at a so-called "negative interest rate" era, when people resorted to diversified investment channels instead of bank savings alone.

The bank has expanded new business such as banking cards, individual financing and consumers' loans, while continuing to develop the traditional savings business, it said in a report.

The bank had secured a 4.3 percent share in the domestic credit card market by the end of 2004, a rise from the 4.1 percent recorded a year earlier. 

(Xinhua News Agency January 17, 2005)