(Yicai) April 8 -- Annual salaries increased at more than half of listed Chinese banks last year, despite the growing economic headwinds.

Salaries rose at 13 of the 23 commercial banks that have so far released their compensation data for 2024, while remuneration fell at eight others. 

Average pay reached CNY375,500 (USD51,300) a year, Yicai calculated based on figures from data compiler Choice and the banks. Four of them had mean salaries above CNY500,000 (USD68,300), with the highest being China Citic Bank at CNY606,100. The lowest was Postal Savings Bank of China at CNY331,200.

In comparison, the disposable income of urban residents per head was CNY54,188 (USD7,400) in 2024.

With a total workforce of nearly 2.4 million, the 23 listed banks paid out a total of CNY897.6 billion (USD122.4 billion) in compensation to staff last year.

Banks with higher or faster-growing average pay typically also have higher revenue per employee. Citic Bank, for example, reported RPE of CNY3.6 million (USD488,000), while Industrial Bank and Bank of Communications had RPEs of over CN2.7 billion.

Average pay is not just correlated with RPE, it also reflects factors such as the city in which the bank operates and the composition of its workforce, a banking analyst told Yicai. For instance, joint-stock banks have most branches in economically developed cities and tend to employ more highly educated and skilled staff, resulting in higher pay.

Rising personnel costs were centered on marketing and information technology roles last year, Yicai noticed, partially reflecting the banking industry’s increased investment in digital transformation and business expansion.

BOCOM, for example, had 9,041 financial technology staff as of Dec. 31, up 16 percent from a year earlier. They accounted for 9.4 percent of the lender’s staff, a 1.2 percentage point increase.

In the past two years, positions in the banking industry have become more easily replaceable, with the number of lobby managers, tellers, security personnel, and cash collection staffers gradually declining, a branch manager at a state-owned lender told Yicai.

A branch manager at a state-owned bank pointed out that staff in more easily replaceable roles, such as lobby managers, tellers, security guards, and cash handlers, have been gradually reduced in recent years. Instead, labor costs are shifting toward competitive roles in marketing and fintech, where greater expertise is required, the person added.

Editor: Tang Shihua, Futura Costaglione