Bank of China denied famous blind singer Zhou Yunpeng a bank account and netizens are not happy.
The bank denied the service, referring his visual disability.
Zhou wrote on China's Twitter-like Weibo service on Monday night that staff at a Bank of China branch in south China's Shenzhen City told him and his companion that he was not eligible to open an account because he cannot see and "has no capacity for civil acts".
He later visited a China Merchants Bank branch and managed to open an account. The singer previously did hold bank cards from Bank of China as well as from some other banks.
He questioned Bank of China's action and demanded a reply as to why he was seen as "person without the capacity for civil acts" since individuals over 18 years are considered having full capacity for civil conduct according to the Civil Law.
People with no capacity for civil acts are those who are mentally unsound and incapable of discretion in their actions and shall be represented by their legal agents.
Lawyer Xu Feng with Trend Law Firm (Shanghai) told Sina.com that it is never a problem for people with visual impairment to open a bank account.
"The group of people has equal demand in financial management. They can read relevant policies by facilitating equipment without companionship. At the same time, they can also preserve evidence by recording audio or video files," he said.
A bank insider echoed the lawyer's opinion, assuming the staff may not be familiar with procedures.
He said he never heard this was a reason to decline a bank account for a blind person.
"There is braille on keyboards at ATMs, and clauses and signatures are also available in braille edition. There are no difficulties for visually impaired people to handle the issue alone," he added.
Bank of China has apologized to Zhou in a letter on Tuesday, promising better and more professional service in the future.
By Li Jing
