I. Definition
Agent Business refers to: ICBC acts for the clients and provides various financial services and relevant business to its clients with its operation functions and advanced computer technology, and Agent Business mainly includes: agent bank drafts issue, agent bank drafts payment, agent exchange, agent interbank foreign exchange enquiry, agent trust receipt and payment and other business.
II. Introduction
1. Agent bank drafts issue
After the client bank signs agent issue bank drafts business agreement, ICBC could act for issuing ICBC bank drafts, and the clients could cash the drafts in ICBC's outlets whenever necessary. In order to facilitate the business, ICBC will provide necessary documents and machines for the agent business, and train the relevant staff. The client bank should open shift exchange drafts account at ICBC and pay the agent fee according to the agreed payment rates and method.
2. Agent bank drafts payment
ICBC could act for paying bank drafts issued by the banks with bank drafts issue qualification, in order to expand their operation outlets. ICBC will provide exchange drafts code machine, operation book for the coding, and the management method for codes. The client bank should open payment bank drafts account at the operation institutions of ICBC, shift the amount of money equaled with the issued bank draft to ICBC at the same day and the day after the bank draft is issued, and pays the agent fee through the authorized ICBC debit provision account. For the bank draft issued by the client bank, after being audited according to the payment settlement regulations, ICBC should carry on responsibilities of unconditional payment by drafts.
3. Agent exchange
ICBC provides agent exchange business to state-owned commercial banks, policy banks, joint-stock commercial banks, city commercial banks, foreign banks, urban credit cooperative banks, and rural credit cooperative banks. After the client bank opens provision account and deposits enough capital in ICBC, ICBC would handle the relevant business with advanced capital exchange settlement system abiding by the needs of the client bank. Normal exchange transfer business is handled by batches, and the capital is received within 24 hours; expedited business is handled real-time, which would pace up the exchange transfer, and the capital is received within 2 hours.
4. Agent interbank exchange drafts acceptance enquiry
When the discount bank and acceptance bank are not at the same place, and the discount have no branches at the acceptance bank's location, ICBC would provide agent interbank exchange drafts acceptance enquire service. The discount bank could ask the local ICBC institution to act for acquiring bank drafts acceptance information to the acceptance bank, which pace up the inter-bank drafts acceptance enquiry.
III. Target Clients
The banks and financial institution clients which have relevant qualifications.
IV. Application Conditions
The banks and financial institution clients which have relevant qualifications could apply for the business.
V. Solutions
1. Agent bank drafts issue
After the bank signs agent bank drafts issue business agreement, ICBC will issue ICBC bank drafts according to the client's application as well as in accordance with payment settlement regulations. The client bank should transfer the funds to ICBC according to the issued bank drafts amount and pay the agent fee to ICBC according to the agreed payment fee rate and method. ICBC, as the agent, regards the bank draft issued by the client bank as drafts in its own system, and audits and pays the drafts under regulations.
2. Agent bank drafts payment
(1) Manual Transfer Mode: the local branches of the client bank select one of the local institutions of ICBC as the agent settlement bank, then transfer bank draft funds and register manually. After accepting the bank drafts of the client bank, the agent payment banks of ICBC would handle the fund settlement through agent settlement bank and issue bank.
(2) Centralized Settlement Mode: the client bank selects only one ICBC exchange institution as agent settlement bank, and then exchanges business information through special system. After accepting bank drafts from the client bank, all the agent payment banks of ICBC should handle the settlement through this agent settlement bank and issue bank.
(3) After accepting the bank drafts issued by members of National City Commercial Bank Settlement Center, ICBC would handle the settlement through modernized payment system; if the ICBC agent payment bank is located at areas where no modernized payment system is available, or where the system can not work, each agent payment bank could follow the relevant emergent operation procedures and handle the settlement through ICBC's real-time settlement system.
(4) Agent regional bank drafts settlement: the bank drafts that issued by the issuing bank, which is circulated in special areas and should be paid by drafts, is accepted by agent payment banks other than ICBC, and if there is no local branches of the issue bank, then ICBC agent issue bank and agent payment bank will handle the settlement with each other.
3. Agent exchange
(1) Inter-bank deposit account settlement model: each client bank opens special inter-bank deposit account at ICBC for handling the settlement of their customers' remittance through ICBC.
(2) Manual direction mode: the client bank and its customers initiate business by passing trade directions through paper or disk manually.
(3) "Bank-Bank Link" mode: the client bank and the local ICBC branch would exchange business information and handle the settlement through special system.
(4) Direct connection between main computers mode: the client bank and the ICBC headquarter are connected by a special system, which exchanges business information and handles the settlement by the method of "connecting by single interface and settling by batches".
(5) Agent third-party payment: the customers open accounts at ICBC, and authorize ICBC to handle the payment to the account under the directions of another bank.
(6) Agent access to modernized payment system mode: as a direct participant of modernized payment system, ICBC could act for financial institutions which are not direct participants to access to the modernized payment system.
4. Agent interbank exchange drafts acceptance enquiry
Authorized by discount banks, ICBC enquires bank would draft acceptance information to the acceptance banks and announces to the discount banks.
VI. Characteristics and Advantages
Compared with the agent services of other banks, ICBC has provided better services to state-owned commercial banks, policy banks, joint-stock commercial banks, city commercial banks, foreign banks, city and rural credit cooperative banks and other financial institutions with its solid financial strength, sound social reputation, huge business networks and efficient settlement system.