The Board of Directors of ICBC has recently approved the Proposal on Establishing the Internet-based Finance Department to establish the Internet Finance Department based on the original E-banking Department, accelerating the upgrade of internet-based finance e-ICBC 2.0 to the smart banking strategy e-ICBC 3.0.

ICBC will speed up innovation and application relating to big data, artificial intelligence, cloud computing and other emerging financial technologies, focus on the security of Internet finance and build the ecosystem of financial services. For example, the Bank accelerates smart transformation of traditional financial services by establishing an open, cooperative and win-win financial services ecosystem, developing smart systems of marketing, products, services and risk control, as well as reshaping the central position of the Bank as the intermediary of information and credit. In addition, a new type of customer relationship management system will be developed integrating online and offline services to acquire, manage and retain customers. Internet Finance Department of ICBC will be responsible for implementation of smart banking strategy, co-ordination of development and management of the Internet-based financial business, user development, establishment and operation of Internet-based financial platform, as well as  cooperation with other Internet companies.

In recent years, ICBC has boosted the Internet financial development strategy by upgrading and improving the integrated architecture of Internet-based finance, which focuses on the open online banking platform ICBC Mobile, the e-commerce platform ICBC Mall, the instant messaging platform ICBC Link, covering financial services, e-commerce and information services. As at the end of June this year, ICBC Mobile had 267 million customers, outperforming other banks in terms of customer number, loyalty and market share. ICBC Mall reached an semiannual transaction volume of RMB 523.9 billion, in which 90% are attributed to non-financial ones, attracting 71.43 million B2C customers. ICBC Link had 93.49 million customers, up by 27.01 million compared to early this year, and launched convenience services under multiple scenarios to better serve customers. The balance of Internet-based financing was RMB 742 billion, continuing to lead Chinese market.