Banking on Women: Tracing the Shanghai Women's Commercial and Savings Bank

Abstract

This paper details the formation of the Shanghai Women’s Commercial and Savings Bank (1924-1955) and its subsequent development as a women’s enterprise. It examines the organization’s capital structure as well as its board and personnel composition. Staffed and financed by women, the bank catered to women young and old who cashed their paychecks and stored their jewellery there as a means for financial independence. Although this women’s bank had limited capital and a small business scope, it reflected the endeavours of women at a time when Chinese women’s roles were evolving. Historical scholarship on Republican-era commercial Shanghai focuses heavily on women as cultural consumers of goods and services. In fact, women were also the producers and drivers of economic goods and services. This paper uncovers the role of prominent women like vice-president Zhang Youyi in managing the bank and the complex behind-the-scenes network culminating in the bank’s development to suggest that the bank became a space for the ‘modern’ women who moved into new arenas outside the home. Moreover, it adds a gendered dimension to the narrative of commercial Shanghai to reflect the contributions of enterprising women to the financial field.