In recent years, ICBC leverages its excellent financial services to support the growth of merchant clusters through different service channels, with tangible results. "ICBC Merchant Friend Club", a service platform established by ICBC, offers a range of unique services covering payment/settlement, business loan, information inquiry, business networking to commercial customer groups such as merchants in different merchandise markets. The unique services represent comprehensive financial services to commercial groups and another breakthrough and innovative move of ICBC in the delivery of personal banking services. Meanwhile, ICBC Merchant Friend Club also plays an active role in cultivating potential small/micro business customers and promoting their healthy growth.

The first "ICBC Merchant Friends Club" was established on April 8, 2010 in Zhejiang's Haining. Since then, this type of new service platform moves at an impressive pace nationwide with its super valued and convenient services and products. ICBC has set up 2,400+ new "ICBC Merchant Friend Club" and attracted around 2.3 million new members since January 2011, adding the total to nearly 3,000 "ICBC Merchant Friend Club" and nearly 3 million members at the end of the year. Just in 2011, members of "ICBC Merchant Friend Club" use their exclusive "Merchant Friend Card" to remit RMB 1.93 trillion. At the end of 2011, ICBC total outstanding personal business loans to members reached over RMB 77 billion.

As related by an executive with ICBC, many kinds of large merchandise marts (clothing, leather, hardware, building materials, aquatic products, flowers) or industry clusters have been gathering steam in all corners of China over the past few years, they are the important forces in driving the transformation and upgrade of consumer spending and coordinated economic development. These special markets are clusters of small merchants. In view of this special point, ICBC leverages its "ICBC Merchant Friend Club" to group the customers into different market segments, build new customer relation model and focus on targeted product and service innovation. The aim is to offer a wide spectrum of financial services (settlement, financing, information inquiry and others) to cater specifically for this type of customers and help them achieve smooth progress, upgrade and transformation.

Eligible commercial customers, once filling in the membership registration form to join the "ICBC Merchant Friend Club", are entitled to a range of heartfelt and economical services designed and customized to the different needs of the merchant group. ICBC steps up its product innovation and service optimization in order to provide more comprehensive products and services to the expanding customer base. Merchant Friend Link, Merchant Friend Loan, Merchant Friend Wealth, Merchant Friend Road, Merchant Friend Joy are some of the exclusive products and services to the members with all the functions under different categories. For instance, ICBC upgrades the "Merchant Friend Link" and offers special discount for members to use Merchant Friend Card for remittances: inter-city remittance, interbank remittance, remittance between Merchant Friend Cards, inter-city deposit/withdrawal by Merchant Friend Card. The "Merchant Friend Loan" is another innovative loan product exclusively for members to apply. "Merchant Friend Loan" can be guaranteed under different options, "apply once, revolving use of loan limit". Members can draw "Merchant Friend Loan" via many service channels, simple and highly efficient. The "Merchant Friend Joy", a value-added service for the members, is aimed to enrich the value-added services of the Club. Members can discuss business with the customers, get latest information, look for business opportunities through the Club to increase personal or company value.