Beginning from this year, ICBC has moved aggressively on electronic bill of exchange business and developed a full product line for the acceptance, discounting, inter-bank discounting and re-discounting of electronic bills. In January-November period, ICBC generated more than RMB 30 billion in e-bill acceptance, over RMB 27 billion in discounting of electronic bills. ICBC contributes significantly to the progress and prosperity of electronic bill business in the country by being the top domestic bank in discounting amount.

As related, traditional paper-based bill of exchange has many setbacks: low-efficiency of delivery, unsafe to carry around, strict requirements on endorsement, inconvenient circulation transaction. Moreover, they can be easily forged, changed, lost or damaged. All these hurdles invariably cause obstacles to the smooth progress of using bill. In view of this, PBOC launched the electronic bill system as the online transaction platform on Oct 28, 2009. Electronic bill is issued and circulated in the form of data message and uses electronic signature instead of written or stamped signature. When compared to paper-based bill of exchange, electronic variant is safe,highly efficient in circulation, involves simple steps, many ways to transact, low cost and long duration. They play a significant role in stopping forgery/ counterfeit bills, putting down the settlement cost of a company, improving settlement efficiency, and in the control of financial risk. They represent the future of bill business.

In an effort to push the application of electronic bill system, ICBC leverages its strength in bill business and the special Bill Department to build a comprehensive IT network to support the business. The newly launched online e-commercial bill product is an example. Electronic commercial drafts are accepted via corporate internet banking, implying the issuance, acceptance, endorsement, circulation of commercial bills and crediting into account can all be done online. Moreover, processing efficiency is greatly improved due to real-time clearing of funds and inquiry on the details. ICBC's system employs e-signature and proven authentication mechanism to process the electronic drafts to ensure the exclusivity, integrity and security in the process, the risk involved is well controlled.

This new option of transacting electronic bill of exchange let customers fully enjoy fast and safe bill services, said an executive with ICBC. Take the case in last year on the first day of electronic bill system in production. ICBC Bill Department and peers jointly concluded the first inter-bank discounting of electronic commercial acceptance bill. It took less then five minutes from submitting application to the completion of transaction with the amount credited into account. The result was numerous times faster than the processing of paper-based bill of exchange, which took at least 1 to 2 days to process.

The ICBC executive said that ICBC will continue to leverage own expertise and capabilities to develop and launch new electronic bill product. The objective is to drive the electronic bill market and act as the bridge between financial institutions and companies to take part in the electronic bill operation. ICBC strives to contribute its share to promote electronic alternatives to the traditional paper-based bill of exchange in China market.