Half of the banks offer financial IC cards for free. At present, ICBC, China Construction Bank, Hua Xia Bank, and Minsheng Bank are still vigorously promoting financial IC cards, and applying for chip cards is free of charge. Agricultural Bank of China only waives the production fee for the first chip card, and charges a 10 yuan production fee for the second chip card issued by an individual.

The five banks, Bank of China, Bank of Communications, China Merchants Bank, Bank of Beijing and China CITIC Bank, charge cost fees ranging from 5 to 20 yuan. Among them, Bank of Communications and China CITIC Bank charge a production fee of 20 yuan/piece; China Merchants Bank and Bank of Beijing charge a production fee of 10 yuan/piece; Bank of China charges a production fee of 5 yuan/piece.

For users who have previously applied for a magnetic stripe card and want to switch to a financial IC card, they can go directly to the bank to go through the card replacement procedures. ICBC, China Construction Bank, Hua Xia Bank and China Minsheng Bank also offer free chip card replacement. Agricultural Bank of China’s customer service stated that if the chip card that the user replaces is the first chip card, it is currently free of charge. The fees for the other five banks to replace chip cards are the same as those for new cards.