THE Industrial & Commercial Bank of China will increase its charge for trans-bank cash withdrawals at automatic teller machines by up to 100 percent next month, the bank said today.

The bank, which has the broadest banking network in China, said in a Website statement today that the fee for ATM cash withdrawals on the mainland will range from two yuan (27 US cents) to four yuan from November 1, without clarifying in the statement under what circumstance the fees will vary.

The Beijing-based bank said that in places where rivals charge higher fees, it will follow the trend and ask for more than two yuan.

The Bank of China now charges four yuan for each cash withdrawal in Liaoning and Hunan provinces, while the Agricultural Bank of China and China Construction Bank charge four yuan in Guangdong Province.

Most banks in Shanghai now charge two yuan each for the service.

All the fees mentioned are confined in the same cities. Banks may charge more for cross-city ATM cash withdrawals with varying charges.

A rule that went into effective on March 1, 2004, makes banks pay three yuan each to agency banks for trans-bank ATM withdrawals and pay another 0.6 yuan to China UnionPay Co, the country's sole trans-bank bank card system operator.

That means the cost of trans-bank cash withdrawals is 3.6 yuan, whether they are made in the clients hometown or another city.

ICBC will charge four yuan for overseas ATM account inquiries from November.

ICBC, the world's biggest lender in terms of market value, has 16,997 outlets on the mainland with 98 overseas outlets at the end of 2006. The bank serves 170 million personal clients.

The Beijing-based bank holds a 15 percent market share of the country's individual loans and 19.7 percent of the country's personal deposits market at the end of 2006.