Huaxia Bank's Department with Most Customer Complaints Changes Leadership

On the eve of March 15, Huaxia Bank’s Credit Card Center announced a leadership change, with Zhao Caizi, General Manager of the Retail Business Headquarters, taking over as the new head.

Meanwhile, the former head of the Credit Card Center, Xiao Gang, was appointed General Manager of the Retail Business Headquarters. In other words, the two swapped positions.

The Credit Card Business Department is the department most frequently complained about by customers. In the first half of 2025, 67% of Huaxia Bank’s personal customer complaints were related to the Credit Card Center.

Leadership Swap of Two Major Departments

Generally, personnel rotations between bank departments tend to be sequential, but a direct swap of department heads is relatively rare.

In this personnel adjustment, Zhao Caizi, General Manager of the Retail Financial Department at Huaxia Bank’s head office, is set to become the General Manager of the Credit Card Center.

Zhao Caizi was appointed President of Dalian Branch in April 2015, and President of Kunming Branch in 2019. After transferring to the head office in 2023, he has held multiple roles across various business lines, including General Manager of the Inclusive Finance Department, General Manager of the Personal Business Department, and General Manager of the Retail Financial Department. He also previously served as General Manager of the Wealth Management and Private Banking Department.

Xiao Gang, the current General Manager of the Credit Card Center, is expected to become the General Manager of the Retail Financial Department at the head office.

Born in 1968, Xiao Gang started working in September 1990. He previously served as Deputy Branch Manager of the Wuhan Dongxihu Sub-branch of China Construction Bank. After joining Huaxia Bank, he held positions including Deputy Branch Manager (acting) of the Wuhan Dongxihu Sub-branch, Deputy Branch Manager (acting) of the Qiaokou Sub-branch, Branch Manager of Qiaokou Sub-branch, and Branch Manager of Donghu Sub-branch. He also served as a dedicated approval officer at Huaxia Bank’s head office, Deputy General Manager and General Manager of the Corporate Business Department, and from 2016 to 2019, he was a director of Huaxia Financial Leasing Co., Ltd. In July 2019, he was appointed President of Huaxia Bank’s Changsha Branch. Since March 2025, he has been the General Manager of Huaxia Bank’s Credit Card Center.

Challenges in Customer Complaints

As of the end of June 2025, Huaxia Bank had issued a total of 42.6386 million credit cards, an increase of 1.57% from the end of the previous year. However, the number of active customers decreased by 4.18% year-over-year to 16.6287 million. The credit card loan balance was 159.587 billion yuan, down 5.73% from the end of last year. In the first half of 2025, the total transaction volume of Huaxia credit cards was 3.5867 trillion yuan, a year-over-year decrease of 16.32%; credit card business revenue was 7.574 billion yuan, down 12.91% year-over-year.

According to Huaxia Bank’s consumer protection disclosure for the first half of 2025, the bank received 1,203.78 complaints per million personal customers, with credit card complaints accounting for as much as 67%, making it the most complained-about business segment. Debt collection complaints accounted for 14%, personal loan complaints for 9%, and these three categories combined accounted for 90%. Complaints related to credit cards mainly involved illegal collection practices, fee disputes, installment and annual fee disputes, and are the primary sources of consumer complaints for the bank.

Similarly, Huaxia Bank’s retail banking business has experienced growth but also faces significant challenges.

In the first half of 2025, Huaxia Bank’s personal deposits and total personal financial assets increased by 8.24% and 8.20%, respectively, compared to the end of the previous year. Wealth management and digital operations advanced steadily, and the retail transformation achieved phased results. However, retail asset quality and customer service are facing notable challenges.

As of the end of June 2025, Huaxia Bank’s non-performing personal loan balance was 16.235 billion yuan, with a non-performing loan ratio of 2.27%, up 0.47 percentage points from the end of last year. The bank explained that external risk factors have led to decreased income and repayment capacity for some debtors, which is the main reason for the rise in retail non-performing loans.