In compliance with the Australian Banking Code of Practice and to fulfil our social responsibilities, promote equity and inclusion, and ensure that all customers have equal and convenient access to banking services, Bank of China (Australia) Limited is committed to enhancing service inclusiveness and accessibility, with special care for vulnerable customers.

I. Inclusivity and Accessibility

We are committed to providing banking services which are inclusive and accessible for all customers. We will take reasonable measures to enhance access to our services for customers including, but not limited to:

a)older customers;

b)people with disability;

c)Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander customers, including those in remote locations;

d)people with limited English; and

e)people of diverse sexual orientations, gender identities and sex characteristics including lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and gender diverse, intersex, queer and asexual people, and people born with an intersex variation.

We will work to improve inclusivity and accessibility for our customers including, where appropriate and practicable, organising or referring you to external support free of charge, including:

a)interpreter services (for example via qualified interpreters, including Auslan);

b)National Relay Services; or

c)accessible information (such as enabling the use of screen readers and easy read guides).

Where it is not practicable to refer you to external support (for example, where an interpreter is not available), we will let you know of alternative ways we may provide support (for example, rescheduling a call to a time when an interpreter is available) or where you may otherwise receive support.

We will take reasonable measure to ensure that our premises can be easily accessed. For example, with the exception of our Haymarket Sydney Branch, (which is subject to Heritage Building Constraints), we have wheel chair/lift access to all our retail branches.

We may provide different ways to access our banking services, including internet banking and mobile banking. We use plain English for our banking services and we maintain a Mandarin language information on our website. We make plain English summaries of our key products and services available and we also make these summaries in Mandarin.

We provide our customers with online and telephone hotline support services. Customers can reach us on 1800 095 566 (within Australia) or +613 9670 6200 (outside Australia) for general inquiries. A 24 hour hotline for debit card information is available on 1800095566 (within Australia) and +61 3 96706200 (overseas). A 24 hour hotline for Credit Card information, including lost or stolen card security is available on 1800 026 228 (within Australia) and +61 2 8235 5995 (overseas).

We train our staff who provide these support services in English or in Mandarin so that they can deal with you in a sensitive manner and so that they can explain the measures that are available from us to improve access to our services (or refer you to other providers of services that may assist). You can provide feedback to our staff if you think we can improve the way we make our banking services inclusive and accessible.

Every Bank of China (Australia) retail branch has Mandarin speaking and English speaking staff members. Some branches have Cantonese speakers. Please check with us to locate a branch with Cantonese speakers if this is something you require. If you need to speak to a staff member in one of these languages please ask us. If the person you are speaking is unable to assist, then we will make reasonable efforts to put you in contact with one of our staff members who is able to speak to you in that language.

II. Vulnerable customers

We are committed to taking extra care with customers who are experiencing vulnerability. We recognise that a customer’s circumstances may require support and that these circumstances may change over time and in response to particular situations. While all customers may be at risk of experiencing vulnerability, this risk may be increased due to a range of characteristics which may include, but are not limited to:

a)age;

b)disability;

c)mental health conditions;

d)cognitive impairment;

e)serious medical conditions;

f)elder abuse;

g)family and/or domestic violence;

h)financial abuse;

i)financial difficulty (see our Financial Difficulty Assistance page on our website for more information);

j)literacy and/or language barriers including limited English;

k)cultural background;

l)Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander customers;

m)remote locations; or

n)incarcerated persons or persons recently released from incarceration.

We encourage you to tell us about your circumstances so that we can work with you in relation to your banking service with us, otherwise we may not find out about your circumstances.

If you require extra care and you tell us about your personal or financial circumstances, we will work with you to identify a suitable way for you to access and undertake your banking. For example, we may be able to assist you to conduct some banking services by way of contacting our hotline instead of visiting us in branch, or you may become an "Eligible Customer" for some of our low cost facilities such as our Basic Transaction Account. For more information on that account, please see the page on our website titled Basic Transaction Account General Information for Personal Banking Customers.

When we are providing a banking service to customers who are experiencing vulnerability we will:

a)be respectful of your need for privacy and confidentiality;

b)provide appropriate guidance and referrals intended to help you to maintain, or regain, control of your finances; and

c)where appropriate, make it as simple as possible for you to appoint a third-party representative (such as a lawyer or financial counsellor) to deal with us on your behalf.

We will make sure that our staff and our representatives are trained so that they treat our diverse customers, vulnerable customers and customers who appear to be vulnerable with sensitivity, respect and compassion.

27 February 2025
Bank of China (Australia) Limited
ABN 28 110 077 622
AFSL and Australian
Credit Licence No. 287322
140 Sussex Street, Sydney NSW 2000