Accumulated Gold Trading Popular "Racing Against the Clock"

This article is reprinted from: Qingdao Daily

From “Available for Purchase Anytime” to “Limited Quantity Rush”

Accumulated Gold Trading Becomes a Trend of “Speed Competition”

□Qingdao Daily / Guanhai News Reporter Wang Yining

“Set my alarm for 8:50 a.m., open my mobile banking app at 9:00, and as soon as I log in, it shows ‘Today’s quota sold out’.” Ms. Zhang, a resident of Shinan District, told reporters helplessly. She has been paying attention to gold investment. Recently, seeing gold prices continuously falling, she wanted to buy more at a bargain, but surprisingly, she couldn’t get a quota for three consecutive days.

Recently, many investors like Ms. Zhang have encountered difficulties buying gold. Amid sharp fluctuations in gold prices, the so-called “lazy” gold investment tool—accumulated gold—is experiencing a shift from “available for purchase at any time” to “limited quantity rush.”

Accumulated Gold Becomes a New “Hot Spot” in Gold Investment

Accumulated gold is a type of gold investment offered by banks. After opening an accumulated gold account at a bank, investors can buy gold shares regularly, similar to purchasing funds, either by grams or by amount. These shares are not physical gold but ledger-based gold assets—equivalent to “depositing” gold in the bank, with the bank recording how many grams of gold you have stored. When the account’s shares reach a certain amount, investors can choose to sell at real-time gold prices or apply to exchange for physical gold bars.

Compared to directly buying gold bars, accumulated gold has obvious advantages. It has a lower threshold—some banks allow starting with just 1 gram; it is more flexible—transactions can be completed via mobile banking; and it has higher liquidity—trades can be redeemed at any time on trading days. These features have made accumulated gold a popular “lazy” gold investment tool among young people in recent years.

28-year-old citizen Xiao Zhang has been investing 2 grams of accumulated gold monthly since early last year. Over a year, he accumulated over 20 grams of gold shares, with a paper profit exceeding 20%. “But recently, gold prices have fallen sharply, and I’ve basically given back my previous gains.”

Some investors choose to “buy more against the trend.” Ms. Chen bought some accumulated gold at high gold prices. Recently, her paper gains turned into losses, but she remains calm. After consulting her financial manager, she believes that gold still has long-term value, and buying in stages during the decline can lower the average cost. However, she also found that now it’s not easy to buy more—“you have to watch the time and rush for quotas.”

Some investors even borrow money to speculate on gold. An investor shared on social media that over the past six months, they raised hundreds of thousands of yuan through various channels to invest in accumulated gold accounts, trying to profit from gold price fluctuations, but recently, they have been losing money and are exhausted. Industry insiders revealed that some investors use consumer loans, credit card limits, and other leverage to participate in short-term trading, which carries significant risks when gold prices fluctuate sharply.

Banks Take Multiple Measures to Upgrade Risk Control

The tightening of accumulated gold trading is driven by recent sharp fluctuations in international gold prices. In mid to late March, gold prices experienced multiple days of steep declines, with single-day drops exceeding 9%, highlighting short-term market selling pressure. This intense volatility has made all market participants, including banks, highly alert.

In response to increasing market uncertainty, several banks have begun to adjust their accumulated gold trading rules intensively. China Construction Bank has implemented dynamic trading limit management for “CCB Gold” (including “Easy Save Gold”) since March 4; Industrial and Commercial Bank of China has limited “Ruyi Gold Accumulation” transactions on weekends and public holidays, which are non-Shanghai Gold Exchange trading days, since February 7.

In addition to trading limits, some banks have quietly increased their accumulated gold handling fees recently. Some investors reported that certain banks raised fees by over 60%. The widening of buy-sell spreads means significantly higher transaction costs, which has dampened investors’ enthusiasm.

Meanwhile, many banks are gradually shutting down their agency personal precious metals trading services with the Shanghai Gold Exchange, further narrowing individual “gold trading” channels. On March 17, Postal Savings Bank and China Minsheng Bank announced the continuation of terminating agency precious metals services; Ping An Bank and Industrial Bank also announced they will gradually close related business permissions.

Dong Ximiao, Chief Economist at Zhaolian, analyzed that banks are shifting their risk control approach from “static defense” to “dynamic game,” using strategies like dynamic limits and higher risk rating thresholds to screen clients—aiming to retain investors who truly recognize gold’s long-term value and have the capacity to bear risks, rather than short-term traders seeking quick profits through leverage and speculation.

Rational Gold Allocation and Long-term Investment Strategies

In the current market environment, how should investors participate in gold investment rationally?

Return to long-term allocation, abandon short-term speculation. Orient Financial Credit Rating Co., Ltd. states that gold should be viewed from a long-term perspective, not as a tool for short-term speculative gains. Facing gold price fluctuations, investors need to recognize that gold’s core role is as a “stabilizer” and “insurance policy” for household assets—mainly to hedge extreme risks and stabilize overall asset volatility.

坚持定投策略，控制仓位比例。关于入场方式，博通咨询金融行业首席分析师武泽伟建议采用“分批、定期、小额”的定投策略，通过积存金或实物金条等方式平滑成本，避免一次性追高。

Diversify investment channels. Besides accumulated gold and physical gold, investors can also choose gold-themed financial products, gold ETFs, and gold-related stocks. Tian Lihui, Dean of the Financial Development Research Institute at Nankai University, suggests prioritizing gold ETFs for gold allocation, focusing on products with high physical reserves and low tracking errors, to avoid deviations caused by management fees and holding structures. For physical gold, caution is advised, as it is suitable for long-term holding but has relatively poor liquidity.