This picture shows a kindhearted banking team that spent more than 20 days preparing chopped-up banknotes worth GBP 3,400 belonging to a poverty-stricken family.
A woman surnamed Zhang approached the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) in Kunming city of the Yunnan Province in China for help after earlier being turned down by several other banks, as it would be too much work to put the notes together.
She said she had carried the fragments of banknotes cut into over 100,000 pieces to several banks and that the total amount should have been worth CNY 32,000 (GBP 3,461). However, after being chopped up it was now worthless unless the bank agreed to exchange it.
Five years earlier, her sister-in-law, who had struggled with mental health issues, had destroyed the money before passing away.
Zhang’s brother, now a widower with four children living in a poor, mountainous village in Sichuan Province, would have been desperately in need of the financial assistance money offered.
Despite regulations allowing banks to exchange damaged notes, local banks had previously declined to help due to the perceived difficulty of the task and as a result, he had given up.
Zhang, motivated by her brother’s need, took the damaged money to ICBC, where her request was met with immediate cooperation.
The bank assigned four employees to repair the notes, which they worked on for 22 consecutive days. Using magnifiers, they meticulously matched and pieced together the fragmented currency, eventually reconstructing not just some but all of the notes.
To express gratitude, Zhang sent a silk banner to the bank, highlighting the importance of considering people’s difficulties and solving their problems.
The incident garnered attention on social media, drawing positive remarks about the bank’s dedication to customer service.
Online commentators like ‘Drinking Dew In The Deep Mountains’ said: “Banks are truly valuable only when they are humane.”
And user ‘Song Jie’ said: “Talented bunch of people.”
While the user ‘Suzhou Litian Metal Products’ said: “Poor bank staff.”
To find out more about the author, editor or agency that supplied this story – please click below. Story By: Aloysius Fernandes, Sub-Editor: Simona Kitanovska, Agency: AsiaWire Report
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