In recent days, the rise in gold prices has attracted much attention, and even the gold accumulation business of banks has also been favored by investors. The reporter paid attention to the recent increase in the minimum purchase amount of accumulated funds by Bank of China, China Merchants Bank, China Construction Bank and Bank of Ningbo. CCB also reminded in the announcement that it will continue to pay attention to the changes in the gold market and adjust the starting amount and limit of personal gold accumulation business in a timely manner.
Source: Nandu Gallery
A number of banks have raised the minimum purchase amount of their accumulated funds
According to the Interim Measures for the Administration of Gold Accumulation Business issued by the People's Bank of China, the minimum business unit of gold accumulation products is 1 gram. However, with the "gold fever" in March, many investors have been keenly aware that a number of banks have recently made adjustments to the relevant rules of gold accumulation business, involving major state-owned banks such as Bank of China, China Merchants Bank and China Construction Bank, as well as city commercial banks such as Bank of Ningbo.
On March 20, China Merchants Bank issued the "Notice on the Adjustment of Gold Account Business", which shows that from March 27, 2024, the starting point of the bank's gold account current account and gold account fixed investment subscription will be adjusted from 500 yuan to 600 yuan. The auto-investment plans (including regular and intelligent auto-investment) that have been successfully set before the adjustment will continue to be executed and will not be affected. After the adjustment, the amount of the newly initiated AIP must meet the bank's latest starting point requirements. At the same time, the "Gold Account Business Purchase and Redemption Service Time" is revised, and the revised service time is subject to the display on mobile banking or online banking and other channels. Starting from March 27, 2024, the service hours for gold account purchase and redemption will be adjusted from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. Beijing time on a trading day to 9 a.m. to 24 p.m.
Bank of Ningbo said in the announcement that due to the recent fluctuations in domestic gold prices, according to the "Interim Measures for the Management of Gold Accumulation Business" issued by the People's Bank of China, Bank of Ningbo will adjust the minimum purchase amount of accumulation funds from 500 yuan to 600 yuan from March 21, 2024, and the minimum purchase grams by weight will remain unchanged at 1 gram. If the purchase amount is less than 600 RMB, the transaction application will not be successfully submitted.
Bank of China also recently announced that in order to implement regulatory requirements and prevent market risks, the accumulation fund business has been adjusted since March 15, and the minimum purchase amount will be adjusted from 480 yuan to 600 yuan when purchasing accumulation funds or creating automatic investment plans according to the amount, and the additional amount will remain unchanged at an integer multiple of 200 yuan; In terms of the automatic investment plan, when purchasing the accumulation fund by gram weight or creating an automatic investment plan, the minimum purchase weight will remain unchanged at 1 gram, and the additional gram weight will remain unchanged at an integer multiple of 1 gram. At the same time, the bank does not allow the purchase of accumulated funds through electronic channels through electronic Class II cards (including BOC E cards and railway e-card products), and does not allow the implementation of the automatic investment plan signed by electronic channels to deduct funds as agreed.
On March 6, China Construction Bank (CCB) issued an announcement on the adjustment of the minimum amount of fixed accumulation for individual gold accumulation business. According to the statute, the minimum amount of regular accumulation of CCB's personal gold accumulation business (including average daily accumulation and self-selected day accumulation) has been raised from 500 yuan to 600 yuan. The recurring accumulation plan that has been successfully set before the adjustment will continue to be executed and will not be affected. CCB also reminded in the announcement that it will continue to pay attention to the changes in the gold market and adjust the starting amount and limit of personal gold accumulation business in a timely manner.
The types of accumulation fund business vary from bank to bank
The reporter learned that gold accumulation refers to the bank customer in the commercial bank to open a gold accumulation account, according to the fixed weight or fixed amount of the commercial bank's underlying gold products for accumulation, commercial banks according to the customer's application automatically deduct the corresponding amount in their accounts every month, the maturity of the accumulation can generally be exchanged for physical gold or the implementation of redemption, transfer, pledge and other operations, and is regarded as the upgraded version of gold investment.
In the view of some investors, compared with other gold investment methods, this investment has a low business investment threshold, more flexible operation, more obvious investment attributes and considerable return on investment than the purchase of physical gold. A bank staff told reporters that due to the recent gold boom, many people have recently begun to inquire about the gold accumulation business, which was rarely consulted before.
It is worth noting that the types of accumulation fund business of various banks are not consistent, some banks can only accumulate virtual and physical "gold", while some banks can also accumulate physical gold bars.
Taking ICBC as an example, there are two kinds of accumulation fund business, accumulation fund and ruyi gold accumulation, and the price of accumulation fund is generally about 10 yuan/gram lower than the price of ruyi gold accumulation. The former is a gold interest, which can be exchanged for precious metal commodities sold by banks, and the latter is a designated gold bar, and the accumulated share can be withdrawn from the number of gold bar grams.
In addition, the cost of investment accumulation fund fees and other costs should not be ignored. For example, ICBC charges a handling fee of no more than 0.5% of the accumulation amount of the bank's accumulated funds, while there is no charge for the accumulation, redemption and withdrawal of Ruyi accumulated funds. CCB's gold accumulation business fee is operated according to the transaction quotation provided by CCB. In addition, some banks also charge a handling fee for their accumulation fund business, with most banks accumulating a fee of around 0.5% and a redemption fee ranging from 0.5% to 1.5%.
In the context of the "gold fever", China Development Bank Securities issued a research report pointing out that there is a risk of short-term chasing up of gold, but the factors driving the medium and long-term rise of gold prices are still there, and if unexpected risk events occur, it will promote gold prices to rise sharply, and it is recommended to pay close attention to changes in the situation.
China Post Securities released a research report saying that recently, the price of precious metals has continued to rise, and the gold price has exceeded $2,200 to hit a new high. The market follows the Federal Reserve policy and U.S. economic data to adjust the expectations of interest rate cuts, and its expectations are then reflected in the gold price, and the Fed's attitude Chairman Powell also said that interest rate cuts will be considered this year, so in the short term, gold prices may pull back slightly and maintain high volatility. At present, the valuation of companies in the gold sector is lower than the historical center, and there is room for upward repair. The high gold price and further upside will help companies in the industry to release their performance, and it is recommended to focus on investment targets with good growth and excellent resource endowment.
Industry insiders call for rational investment in gold. The increase in the starting amount of gold accumulation business means that the threshold for gold investment is higher. At present, gold is still at a high level, and there are still many uncertainties affecting the trend of gold. In the context of the continuous rise in international gold prices and the breakthrough of gold prices on the Shanghai Gold Exchange, investors should grasp the rhythm of accumulation, be cautious about the potential risks of gold investment, and pay attention to preventing the risk of precious metal price adjustment.
Written by: Aoyi News reporter Liu Jie