Today, one of the teachers in my school helped me open an account at Bank of China. It was about a 15 minute walk from the school, in a massive building with lions outside that were about two stories high. Outside are hustlers asking, "Change money? change money?" Can you imagine Citibank putting up with that in New York?
The teacher, Eric, is from Harbin. Without him I would have been helpless; although the teller spoke English, the forms are all in Chinese. The teller informed me that there was a 40 yuan minimum to open an account—that's about $5 U.S. Eric assumed that's what I would be putting it in and put that amount down on the form. I was very grateful for his help, but it was a very awkward moment when I corrected him and wrote down the amount I wanted to deposit; it was very modest by out standards, but it was four times his monthly salary.
On our walk back from the bank, Eric informed me that very few Chinese have bank accounts. They are paid for their work in cash, and have no savings; it's the government's job to take care of them in their retirement or if they are disabled or sick.
1 comment:
There was a great article about two years ago about a bank opening in Chinatown in NYC. There was a raffle for the lock box #888. I hope you got a lucky bank account number.
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