In 2024, the "war for people" in personal pension fund accounts will continue. On January 29, a reporter from Beijing Business Daily noticed that recently, many banks, including major state-owned banks and local banks, have launched marketing activities for the opening of personal pension fund accounts, and the discounts have been further increased. Under the marketing war, bankers have once again started the "involution" mode and are constantly active on social platforms to replace resources and make full preparations for completing KPIs.
A new round of "people-stealing war" begins
At the beginning of 2024, the fierce battle for online account opening and marketing of personal pension fund accounts continues. On January 29, a reporter from Beijing Business Daily found that recently, many major state-owned banks and local banks have launched account opening appointment reminders or marketing welfare activities.
Bank of Communications, Agricultural Bank of China, and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China have launched a number of welfare activities for online opening of personal pension fund accounts. Bank of Communications Micro Banking launched the activity of “enjoy gifts ranging from RMB 8 to RMB 161 when you open an account and make a deposit”. The Agricultural Bank of China has launched relevant activity benefits for customers who have officially opened personal pension fund accounts in Ningxia. Customers who successfully open an account can enjoy an immediate WeChat discount of 50 yuan. The marketing group targeted by ICBC is customers who “recommend opening personal pension fund accounts”.
Bank of Jiangsu has launched a reminder to open personal pension accounts by appointment. Currently, users in Wuxi can apply for pre-opening accounts first, and then officially open accounts after the country is fully liberalized. Talking about the characteristics of personal pensions, Bank of Jiangsu stated that personal pensions deposited in the account can enjoy tax benefits. There is no need to pay personal income tax in the payment and investment process, and only 3% of the amount is taxed when receiving it; in the personal pension fund account The funds can be used to purchase financial products such as savings deposits, financial products, commercial pension insurance, and public funds to generate investment income and maintain and increase value.
Since the personal pension business officially "opened" in November 2022, under the continuous competition for customer sources, the opening of personal pension fund accounts has achieved remarkable results. Information recently released by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security shows that by the end of 2023, the number of people opening pension accounts will exceed 50 million.
Wang Jianhui, a senior researcher in industrial economics, said that such marketing activities are a relatively important way for banks to expand personal business. The growth of personal pension fund account openings in pilot areas still needs to be improved, and the expansion of new accounts is restricted. In non-pilot areas, banks have greater room for choice. As an increment, you can try pre-account opening activities, while focusing more energy on cultivating existing customers.
Banker swap indicator attracts customers
In November 2022, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security announced that in 36 pioneer cities or regions, including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Xi'an, Chengdu, and Wuhan, the National Social Insurance Public Service Platform, the National Human Resources and Social Security Government Service Platform, electronic social security cards, Establish a personal pension account through national unified online service portals such as the “Handheld 12333” App or banks and other channels.
The expansion of the personal pension system is imminent, and the pressure is once again on the "bankers". On January 29, a reporter from Beijing Business Daily noticed that many bank account managers posted on social media to exchange personal pension indicators. An account manager said, "The minimum account opening task assigned by the branch is 40 accounts. If it is not completed, it will have to work overtime to complete the expansion." In the comment area, many bankers resonated and asked for swap indicators online.
The behavior of swapping indicators is relatively common in banks. Behind this is a helpless expedient, and it also reflects the pressure of bankers' account opening assessment. In addition to interchange indicators, the phenomenon of online shopping KPI still exists. On online shopping platforms, the industry chain that helps "bankers" complete assessments is still relatively mature. However, compared with the previous high-profile publicity slogans, now merchants no longer "Professional services relieve worries" and "local promotion to accept pension account openings from major banks to attract new customers" were vigorously promoted. Instead, they only labeled "pilot and non-pilot areas" and "completion included" to attract customers.
A Beijing Business Daily reporter consulted as an employee of a joint-stock bank. The merchant said that personal pension fund accounts can be opened. Taking China Merchants Bank as an example, the quota for opening a single account is 80 yuan, and the quota for opening more than 10 accounts is 75 yuan per account. Dong Ximiao, chief researcher of China Merchants Union, believes that under excessive assessment indicators and pressure, grassroots organizations and employee behavior are prone to alienation. Banks should balance the relationship between business development and risk prevention, and properly handle the relationship between short-term and long-term interests. The assessment tasks assigned to branches should be scientific and reasonable, so that grassroots institutions and employees can "jump and reach."
How to make your account truly “alive”
In the constant "competition" for customers, although financial consumers are increasingly enthusiastic about opening personal pension fund accounts, it is worth noting that the situation of "hot account opening, hot payment and cold deposit" still exists, which has a negative impact on banks. For me, making the account truly "alive" is the key.
Judging from the current feedback from financial consumers, some people open accounts to "sneak money from the bank" and earn benefits. Therefore, these people have less willingness to make deposits; there are also some people who are under the excessive marketing of banks. I opened an account, but I don’t know how to use it, nor do I need to make a deposit. In addition, the current low yields on deposits and financial products have also reduced the willingness of some users to make deposits.
In Dong Ximiao’s view, the personal pension system should be further optimized and adjusted next. For example, after the tax deferral policy is implemented for personal pension products, the overall tax rate can be further reduced, and the investment limit of personal pension fund accounts can be appropriately adjusted. Currently, the annual upper limit of personal pension payment is 12,000 yuan. The next step can be to consider appropriately adjusting the upper limit to encourage more residents to choose the personal pension system.
Liu Yinping, an analyst at Rong360 Digital Technology Research Institute, believes that personal pension products will gradually become more abundant in the future, showing differentiation in terms of investment thresholds, operating cycles, asset allocation, product returns, etc., to meet the pension investment needs of different investors. If banks want to attract and retain customers, they need to provide more competitive products and work hard on product richness, stability, profitability and other aspects.
Beijing Business Daily reporter Song Yitong