For anyone who's ever had to juggle half a dozen bank accounts at the same time, the People's Bank of China (PBC) has some good news. A new system is being launched Monday that will let customers access their accounts on one website.

With the earlier payment system, customers had to logon to different banks' sites to manage their accounts.

The system will be first open to companies, and extended to individual customers later.

During the promotional period, the system may be free, according to a report in the Beijing Times.

"The method of charging has not been finalized yet. The participating banks are all waiting for further instructions from the PBC. But in the long run, the fees would be greatly reduced, because 'super e-banking' will definitely increase banks' efficiency," said Guo Tianyong, the director of the Research Center of the Chinese Banking Industry, Beijing-based Central University of Finance and Economics.

Unlike the existing system, 'super e-banking' can realize real-time inter-bank transfer and balance inquiries. With the existing system, it usually takes one or two days to do the same thing.

The PBC said that the system could provide access to authorized non-financial payment service organizations in order to better satisfy public requirements for home payment. Companies like Alipay, similar to Paypal, would not be shut out.

"This new system would not affect non-financial payment organizations that much. I do not see any overlap between the services of the super e-banking and companies like Alipay," Guo said.

(Global Times August 30, 2010)