Industrial and Commercial Bank of China

Universal bank · Beijing, China

ICBC is the world's largest bank by total assets and one of China's big four state-controlled banks. Central Huijin holds 34.79 percent of its shares and the Ministry of Finance 31.14 percent. It serves companies inside mainland China with settlement accounts, lending, cash management and RMB clearing, and ran 410 overseas institutions in 49 countries and regions at the end of 2025, including subsidiaries in Hong Kong, London, Luxembourg, Argentina and Turkey. Crypto-related business is illegal in mainland China, so the bank does not serve crypto firms. Opening a corporate account for a foreign-invested enterprise in China takes four to eight weeks and requires the legal representative in person. The People's Bank of China fined ICBC 39.615 million yuan and confiscated 4.35 million yuan of illegal gains in a penalty decision dated 10 December 2025 and published on 19 December 2025.

Legal name: Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Limited
Regulated by: National Financial Regulatory Administration (NFRA), People's Bank of China, HKMA (ICBC Asia), PRA/FCA (ICBC London and ICBC Standard Bank), Federal Reserve and NYDFS (ICBC USA), CSSF Luxembourg (ICBC Europe S.A.)
Licence confirmed: yes, on a regulator's own list
Established: 1984
Website: www.icbc.com.cn

Scores, 0 to 10

9.0Financial strength & stability

Common equity tier 1 ratio of 13.57 percent and capital adequacy ratio of 18.76 percent at the end of 2025, with an NPL ratio of 1.31 percent and ratings of A1 (Moody's) and A (S&P). · source

8.0Trade, manufacturing & import-export

Letters of credit and RMB trade settlement across 410 overseas institutions, with business relationships with more than 1,400 foreign banks in 144 countries and regions. · source

7.0Cross-border payments, FX and multi-currency accounts

410 overseas institutions and 12 overseas RMB clearing houses give wide SWIFT and CIPS reach, but FX margins are not published. Global cash management through 410 overseas institutions, with ICBC Global Payment Services direct links in 44 countries and 56 currencies. · source

6.0Asia-Pacific (SG, HK, AU, JP, KR)

ICBC (Asia) and ICBC (Macau) are licensed banks inside the 105 institutions the group ran in Hong Kong and Macao at the end of 2025, alongside branches in Tokyo, Seoul, Singapore and Sydney. · source

5.0Latin America, Africa & South Asia

ICBC (Argentina) is a commercial banking subsidiary with 9.5 billion dollars of assets at the end of 2025, and ICBC Turkey, ICBC (Brasil), ICBC (Peru) and ICBC Mexico add corporate coverage. · source

5.0Lowest fees

The English corporate settlement account pages list services but no prices. · source

4.5Europe (EU, EEA, Switzerland)

ICBC (Europe) S.A. in Luxembourg reported CET1 of 14.28 percent for 2025 and serves corporates through EU branches; no SME accounts. · source

4.5United Kingdom

ICBC Standard Bank plc in London is a markets and commodities bank, not a UK business-account provider. · source

4.5Middle East & Gulf

Five Middle East branches at the end of 2025, in Dubai (DIFC), Abu Dhabi, Doha, Riyadh and Kuwait, all branches rather than licensed local banks. · source

4.0United States

ICBC USA and the New York branch file a US resolution plan and serve corporate and trade clients. · source

4.0Best interest on business balances

Corporate settlement accounts pay regulated demand-deposit rates; no treasury sweep product is listed on the English site. · source

4.0Online businesses: e-commerce and SaaS

Offers e-Bill Payment and collection services for merchants applied for at the counter or via corporate online banking. A foreign software company must set up a Chinese entity with separate RMB basic, foreign currency capital and settlement accounts under SAFE rules, and the bank's English corporate pages list no API, Stripe or accounting integrations. · source

4.0Customer satisfaction

No Trustpilot profile with reviews, and the PBOC penalty published on 19 December 2025 covered account management, customer identification and merchant real-name breaches. · source

4.0Business cards (Visa, Mastercard)

ICBC's English corporate pages describe deposit and settlement services but publish no Visa or Mastercard business card programme, no virtual cards and no spend controls. · source

3.5Startups & VC-backed companies

Startups face the same four-to-eight-week in-person onboarding as any company. · source

3.5Foreign-owned & non-resident companies

A foreign-invested enterprise needs a Chinese business licence and the legal representative must be physically present in China for account opening; remote or proxy applications are not accepted and the process takes four to eight weeks. · source

2.5Fast digital onboarding

Four to eight weeks with an in-person visit by the legal representative for foreign-invested enterprises. · source

2.0Fintech companies that need a partner bank

Notice Yinfa [2026] No. 42, in force since 6 February 2026, bars institutions from opening accounts, moving funds, clearing or settling for virtual-currency business, and no safeguarding or banking-as-a-service programme is published. · source

1.0Crypto-friendly bank

The People's Bank of China restated on 29 November 2025 that virtual currencies and stablecoins are illegal in the country. · source

1.0High-risk verticals (iGaming, cannabis, adult, forex)

Article 303 of China's Criminal Law and the 2005 judicial interpretation make running a gambling house, a gambling website or an online betting agency a crime, and banks may not move funds to gambling sites, so licensed iGaming, casino and similar operators cannot be banked onshore. · source

1.0Crypto wallet and custody for a business

A September 2026 Asian Banker profile of ICBC (Asia) custody says fund tokenisation is still only being explored and describes no crypto custody, and mainland ICBC is barred from serving virtual-currency business by the February 2026 PBOC notice. · source

1.0Accept crypto payments

PBOC notice Yinfa [2026] No. 42 bars mainland financial institutions from providing accounts, transfers, clearing or settlement for virtual-currency business, and ICBC offers no crypto acceptance for merchants. · source

1.0On-ramp: buy crypto with fiat

Exchanging fiat for crypto is illegal financial activity in mainland China under the 6 February 2026 PBOC notice, and no ICBC unit publishes a crypto purchase service for companies. · source

1.0Off-ramp: crypto to fiat in a business account

Under the 2026 PBOC notice mainland banks may not provide fund transfers for virtual-currency business, so crypto sale proceeds have no sanctioned route into an ICBC account. · source

1.0Bitcoin

Bitcoin is named in the February 2026 PBOC notice as a virtual currency that may not circulate as money, and no ICBC entity offers bitcoin trading, holding or transfer to business clients. · source

1.0Ethereum

Ether is named in the February 2026 PBOC notice as a virtual currency without legal tender status, and ICBC offers no ETH trading, custody or staking. · source

1.0Stablecoins (USDC, USDT and others)

ICBC (Asia) was reported in September 2025 to be seeking a Hong Kong stablecoin issuer licence, but the HKMA register checked on 11 September 2026 lists only Anchorpoint and HSBC, and ICBC offers no stablecoin service to companies. · source

Sources

Built on public information and the BankStore team's own aggregated experience; no confidential client or partner data. Bank Index and BankStore are not banks. This is information, not financial advice.