An action of a Chinese bank to attract customers with gifts, including the megapopular Labubu dolls, was barred by financial regulators, highlighting the growing dispute between banks by customers amid falling interest rates and profit margins.
The Zhejiang branch of the National Financial Regulation Administration has asked local banks to avoid offering non -compliant benefits to attract deposits, according to people familiar with the matter.
The orientation came after a promotion of Ping An Bank, which offered Labubu dolls-celebrity-promoted surprise boxes, including Lisa, from the K-Pop Blackpink group-in several cities for new depositors applying 50,000 yuans ($ 660) for three months.
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This practice, which often involves providing free items such as rice or small appliances, as well as electronic gifts such as internet platform signatures, was seen as a factor that raises bank costs and impairs their margins, the sources said, who preferred not to identify themselves because it was a private subject.
Although Ping An Bank’s marketing campaign has viralized on the Chinese XiaohongShu social media platform and aroused great interest between potential savers, it has also received criticism from the state media, which stated that “it is not a long -term solution.”
Chinese banks face a delicate balance between capturing deposits and protecting margins that are at record levels throughout the industry. The country’s large banks held a new round of deposit rates in May, with lower banks following the example and reducing interest rate interests to just above 1%.
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Zhejiang’s bank regulator has requested the immediate suspension of any products involved in non -compliant deposit capture practices, as well as the removal of related promotional materials, the sources said.
It is still unclear whether other local divisions of the regulator have issued similar guidelines. The regulator did not immediately respond to a commentary request.
Ping An Bank said the initiative started as a small-scale project launched by a local branch, refusing to comment more.
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China has established in a 2018 rule that commercial banks should not attract deposits by “inappropriate means”, such as the distribution of physical gifts or money return.
© 2025 Bloomberg L.P.
