(Yicai) April 29 -- The soaring price of gold, which reached an all-time high of just over USD3,500 an ounce a week ago, has released a wave of interest among retail investors in the gold-linked products offered by Chinese banks.

A young depositor in Shenzhen told Yicai that she monitors her “accumulative gold” account daily during periods of high price volatility and makes periodic trades. The account has gained more than 30 percent in value since early last year.

But as more investors flock to gold and price volatility increases, more than a dozen banks have raised the minimum purchase amount for gold products since March to manage risks, with some increasing them for the second or third time this year.

China Merchants Bank, for example, has raised the minimum investment for its gold account for the third time in 2025, lifting it to CNY800 (USD110) from CNY750 on April 21.

Due to heightened trading activity, several lenders have extended their trading hours for accumulative gold accounts, allowing transactions to be made through mobile banking apps when branches are closed. China Construction Bank, for instance, announced in January that the trading window for its gold account would be extended until 2.30 a.m.

The gold investment boom is also driving up banks' holdings of precious metals. The 18 public traded Chinese lenders that have reported their 2024 annual earnings had a combined CNY770.9 billion (USD105.7 billion) of precious metals at the end of the year, up 70 percent from a year earlier, according to data from Wind Information.

Among them, China's four large state-owned banks -- Agricultural Bank of China, Bank of China, CCB, and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China -- collectively held CNY641.5 billion worth, an 83 percent surge.

Increased precious metal holdings have also translated into higher income from sales and transaction fees. At BOC, for example, revenue from precious metal sales jumped nearly 41 percent to CNY20.1 billion (USD2.8 billion) last year, with related fees climbing 33 percent.

“As their net interest margins narrow, non-interest income has become a key are of focus for banks,” a banking industry analyst told Yicai. “Gold's bull run over the past two years has positioned precious metals as a high-potential growth business.”

Editor: Futura Costaglione