Some small and medium-sized banks' agency sales business achieves its first breakthrough

By 彭 妍, Staff Reporter

Entering 2026, several small and medium-sized banks have “broken the ice” with their distribution agency business. Agency gold and precious metals, insurance, wealth management, trust and other businesses have been rolled out one after another. In the industry’s view, small and medium-sized banks are accelerating their transition from traditional deposit-and-loan institutions into integrated wealth management platforms.

Interviewees said that several small and medium-sized banks’ “breakthrough” in distribution agency business is the result of a combination of operational pressure, regulatory guidance, and market opportunities. Currently, wealth management distribution agency business has become a core growth driver and an important strategic direction for banks to broaden non-interest income and promote retail transformation.

Recently, Fenggang Rural Commercial Bank officially launched its agency insurance business. On the day the business was launched, it successfully handled its first order—“Riding Bike Insurance,” a non-motor vehicle liability insurance policy—achieving a business breakthrough.

At the same time, Jiangyin Rural Commercial Bank successfully launched its first agency trust product. The product is issued by Huaxin Trust, focusing on asset allocation needs of high-net-worth customers, and aims to provide long-term wealth appreciation solutions. Previously, many small and medium-sized banks had already begun laying out distribution agency business. In January this year, Huaining Rural Commercial Bank’s auto insurance agency business officially went live; in December 2025, Guangrao Rural Commercial Bank completed its first agency insurance order; in August 2025, Nanxiong Rural Commercial Bank held a special meeting and announced that it would officially carry out its brand gold agency business.

Many banks have clearly defined wealth management as a key development direction. Qingnong Rural Commercial Bank, in a survey and interview, said that in 2026 it will focus on building a wealth management system, promote the implementation of the organizational structure for wealth management, establish a wealth management team, and form a high-end customer operations ecosystem with a three-tier linkage—head office, branches, and sub-branches—working in coordination to drive concerted efforts. Zhangjiakou Rural Commercial Bank, at an internal meeting, also stated that based on the agency insurance and gold and precious metals businesses that have already been carried out, it will thoroughly implement the arrangements and deployments by the provincial rural credit cooperatives association for conducting wealth management distribution agency business, accelerating the formation of an agency product system of “deposit substitution + wealth appreciation.”

Yang Haiping, a research fellow at the Shanghai Institute of Finance and Law, told reporters from The Securities Daily that under the current monetary policy orientation, commercial banks’ net interest margins have been under continuing pressure. Developing wealth management and increasing intermediary business income has become an inevitable choice. In addition, regulators require small and medium-sized banks that have not been approved to establish wealth management companies to reduce their proprietary wealth management business scale; this is also one of the important reasons for these banks to accelerate their rollout of distribution agency business.

Against the backdrop of net interest margins in the banking industry continuing to narrow and retail transformation moving into deeper waters, wealth management business has become an important growth point for banks’ non-interest income. At present, business development still mainly relies on the distribution agency model, and products cover multiple categories including wealth management, among others.

Xue Hongyan, a specially invited researcher at Sushang Bank, told reporters from The Securities Daily that compared with large banks, small and medium-sized banks’ advantage in focusing on wealth management lies in their deep cultivation of the local market, allowing them to grasp regional customers’ needs more precisely. However, they also face issues such as insufficient professional capabilities, widespread shortcomings in research and investment, risk control, and talent reserves, and weaker brand influence.

Xue Hongyan further said that in the long term, the key for small and medium-sized banks to avoid homogeneous competition lies in taking a differentiated path: they should deeply cultivate the local market, focus on specific customer groups such as county residents and owners of small and micro enterprises, and provide customized asset allocation solutions rather than pursuing products that are “big and comprehensive.” They should strengthen ecosystem collaboration, rely on local industry characteristics, embed wealth management into business operations of enterprises and residents’ life scenarios, and form a comprehensive solution of “loans + wealth management + value-added services.” They should also enhance professional capability building by establishing a talent system through internal training and external recruitment, and use financial technology to enable precise customer profiling and intelligent matching.

Yang Haiping suggested that to build core competitive strength in wealth management, small and medium-sized banks should focus on three areas: first, based on local customers’ needs, enrich the product shelf through external cooperation; second, in light of their own circumstances, optimize digital service channels; third, combine wealth management with local distinctive benefits and non-financial services, and carry out comprehensive services and cross-selling.

(Editor: Qian Xiaorui)

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