Since 2014, ICBC’s accrual gold business has maintained a robust growth momentum, with both business volume and customer headcount increasing at a fast clip. Statistics show that by the end of 2014, the scale of its accrual gold business already exceeded 250 tonnes, up by 150% year on year, with the number of customers exceeding 1 million.

According to an ICBC official, Accrual Gold is a gold investment product jointly launched by ICBC and the World Gold Council. It is also the only financial product available in the domestic market that has realized gold investment at the daily average price of gold. Under this product, customers can invest in gold by means of regular investments at averaged costs, with a minimum monthly contribution of RMB 200 (i.e. RMB10/day). In terms of trading strategy, the product adopts an advanced trading strategy of daily purchases at a specified amount to apportion the investment costs of customers and hedge against the risk of short-term volatility in gold prices, which meets the demand of retail and institutional investors for long-term and stable gold investments.

Based on the actual needs of Accrual Gold customers, ICBC has provided a packaged service, including gold buying, selling, financing and storing which is very convenient in terms of both investment and trading. On gold buying, investors only need to open accrual gold accounts and sign regular accrual agreements with the Bank, pursuant to which a monthly deduction is agreed on; the Bank will equally divide their funds by trading days, and purchase corresponding gold units for them according to the gold price of the day. On selling gold, after accumulating a certain amount of gold, investors may either choose to cash out via redemption, or exchange physical gold at the gold-selling outlets of the Bank. As early as 2012, ICBC already realized nationwide deposit and withdrawal of the product. Customers can apply for the service at any time via outlets and online and mobile banking channels of the Bank, and exchange physical gold with their accrual gold accounts at ICBC outlets that sell physical precious metals.