Be ready to find your interest hardly to cover the service charges, if you save a one-year term bank deposit for a sum of less than US$5,000 in the Citibank, analysts cautioned.
That's part of the foreign banking practices overseas bankers introducing into China as well as their quality services, which the analysts said will take time for Chinese people to get used to.
Citigroup is the first overseas bank approved by the government to operate individual business in China.
It rules the depositor should pay US$6, or 50 yuan, of service charge each month if the deposit is less than US$5,000.
For example, if you save US$4,000 for one year, your after-tax interest of US$40 can cover only half of the charges.
Meanwhile, the depositor should pay 0.25 percent of the principal as commission fee when saving the money, and the fee for withdrawal is 0.5 percent.
( March 27, 2002)