China Says ‘No’ to Free Labubu Dolls as Banks Get Too Creative Chasing Customers

BEIJING — Forget free toasters.

One Chinese bank discovered that in 2025, the hottest way to attract new customers wasn’t offering a better interest rate—it was handing out one of the world’s most sought-after collectible toys.

Shenzhen-based Ping An Bank launched a promotion offering customers a free Labubu doll if they opened a new account, deposited at least 50,000 yuan (about $7,000) and agreed to leave the money untouched for at least three months. The campaign immediately went viral across Chinese social media, with many young people saying the toy—not the interest rate—was the reason they visited the bank.

For those unfamiliar with the craze, Labubu dolls are quirky, furry little creatures with oversized ears, wide eyes and a mischievous grin full of sharp teeth. Created by Hong Kong artist Kasing Lung and sold by Pop Mart, the collectibles are typically packaged in “blind boxes,” meaning buyers don’t know which version they’re getting until they open it. The surprise factor, combined with limited production runs, has turned the dolls into an international collecting phenomenon. Celebrities including Lisa of Blackpink and Rihanna have been spotted carrying them, and rare versions have sold for astonishing sums on the resale market.

The promotion worked almost too well.

Photos of newly acquired Labubu dolls flooded the Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu (also known as RedNote), with some customers admitting they hurried to the bank simply to secure one before supplies ran out. One commenter joked, “Money has to be saved somewhere—I wasn’t about to pass up a free Labubu.”

But banking regulators weren’t amused.

China’s National Financial Regulatory Administration quickly stepped in, ordering banks to stop using non-traditional giveaways to lure depositors. Officials argued that offering expensive gifts—from collectible dolls to household appliances and even bags of rice—drives up operating costs and squeezes bank profits at a time when interest rates and lending margins are already near record lows.

Ping An Bank said the promotion had been a limited local marketing campaign and declined further comment after regulators intervened. The crackdown also reinforced an existing 2018 rule prohibiting banks from using inappropriate gifts or cash incentives to attract deposits.

The unusual episode also highlighted the fierce competition among Chinese banks as lower interest rates have made it harder to attract new savers. Apparently, a cute little monster with pointy ears was proving more effective than an extra fraction of a percent in annual yield.

It may be one of the few times in banking history when customers were more excited about the free toy than the money they were depositing.