Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) and South Africa's Standard Bank have jointly rolled out China-South Africa Direct Remittance, allowing retail customers to log on ICBC's internet banking to directly remit to South Africa, which shortens the time of cross-border remittance and reduces the cost.

According to an official of ICBC, China-South Africa Direct Remittance is an extension of ICBC Express business to the Africa continent. In the remittance process, ICBC and Standard Bank will settle directly, avoiding intermediate steps and charging no fees for the remittance. Quality, reliable value-added services are also provided, such as arrival notice and full-amount arrival. At outlets, the currencies supported include US dollars, RMB and South Africa Rand; for personal online banking, the currencies supported include US dollars and South Africa Rand. For personal customers, when making cross-border remittance through online banking, the ICBC system will identify the type of remittance based on elements such as the currency used by the customer, the country of the receiving bank and the receiving bank. Remittances which meet the direct remittance criteria will be automatically classified as direct remittance and the customer may track the entire remittance process.

In general international remittances, the remittance cannot be made to the recipient in full value due to fees charged by overseas intermediary banks and receiving banks. In addition, the rates of charge by overseas intermediary banks are not disclosed, creating uncertainty for deductions of general outward remittance. The China-South Africa Direct Remittance features full-amount arrival, which means the remitted amount will be transferred to the recipient's account in full value, providing customers with more reliable remittance services.