A video of an elderly Chinese woman who died outside a Hunan bank after she was required to appear in person to make a withdrawal to pay for her medical expenses has sparked social media outrage over rigid banking regulations that prioritize security over accessibility.
The woman who was hospitalized for hemiplegia, a condition in which one half of the person’s body is paralyzed, was brought to the bank in a wheelchair by her family after the bank insisted she come in person to withdraw her fixed deposit of 50,000 yuan (or US $6,937), according to a video posted by her nephew on Weibo on Wednesday.
The critically ill woman died at the entrance of the Agricultural Bank of China’s Tianxin branch in Zhuzhou City of the central Chinese province of Hunan before she could complete the withdrawal procedure, the nephew said in the video.
The money was meant to be used for the elderly woman to receive further treatment at another hospital that she was being transferred to, he said.
According to Chinese state-owned local news outlet Da Wan News, she repeatedly failed to pass the facial recognition as she was too ill to blink or shake her head as required during the screening and died after nearly an hour-and-a-half of such failed attempts.
In China, banks like the Agricultural Bank of China have made it mandatory to use facial recognition technology to process withdrawals. As a result, there have been similar incidents in the past where families have been forced to take the elderly, including a dying father in 2023 and another in 2024, to the bank to get their money.
These incidents have typically triggered widespread outrage on Chinese social media platforms. Discussion threads around the latest one on social media, particularly on Weibo, garnered millions of views, as netizens criticized the bank for lack of flexibility and sensitivity to the concerns and needs of vulnerable customers.
“The management systems of many of our banks have long been integrated with many advanced technologies, but the only thing missing is: humanity,” wrote one netizen named Duan Lang.
“The bank requires the person to withdraw money in person out of consideration for the safety of customer funds, but shouldn’t the regulations be humane? When facing such a special seriously ill elderly person, can’t they handle it flexibly?” asked another netizen.
Chinese netizens also called for reforms in regulations and policies at institutions across industries to show more empathy for sick and elderly customers and offer alternative solutions to accommodate their needs.
“Sometimes the bank’s requirements are too harsh … Can’t we provide door-to-door service in special circumstances?” asked one netizen.
“When formulating rules, shouldn’t all industries consider the needs of special groups and show more humane care? Don’t let the ‘system’ become an excuse to hurt others,” wrote one netizen named Snowstorm.
“The real issue is that the financial regulatory agency lacks detailed regulations … (and) prioritizes bank security,” Pang Jiulin, an attorney working at a law firm in Beijing, said on Weibo.
Regarding this week’s incident, a staff member of the Shifeng District office – one of the four urban districts of Zhuzhou City in Hunan province – said the police at its Tianxin subdistrict have intervened and are investigating the matter.
The Agricultural Bank of China’s Zhuzhou branch said the bank has set up a special working group to fully cooperate with police on the investigations.
Edited by Tenzin Pema.
