The Commercial Bank of Ceylon has been conferred three prestigious international awards, being adjudged the 'Best Bank,' 'Best Bank for Premium Banking Services' and the 'Best Bank for Corporate Social Responsibility' in Sri Lanka by Asiamoney, considered the most authoritative voice for the banking industry in the Asia Pacific region.
The most prestigious award of the ceremony, Asiamoney's Best Bank award recognizes Commercial Bank's profitability in 2017, its growth, relative out performance of peers, and its ability to adapt to changing market conditions and client needs.
The award for 'Best Bank for Premium Banking Services' is a tribute to Commercial Bank's wealth management operations in Sri Lanka, with an emphasis on how its offering has outperformed competitors over the review period. The Bank's strategy in winning net new assets and client acquisition related to business gains, initiatives in areas such as relationship management and digital services, and testimonials from clients contributed to winning this award.
The award for 'Best Bank for Corporate Social Responsibility' recognizes the Bank's CSR initiatives, achievements and milestones reached in the previous year. Although charitable and philanthropic initiatives were considered, the award also focused on the Bank providing financial or market solutions to its customer base.
Commenting on the three prestigious accolades from Asiamoney, Commercial Bank Managing Director/CEO Mr. Jegan Durairatnam said: "These awards highlight the balance Commercial Bank maintains between being a financially-sound institution and a service-oriented bank while also contributing generously towards the pressing needs of the society it operates in. This equilibrium is an affirmation that we are on a stable and sustainable trajectory".
Commercial Bank is the largest private bank in Sri Lanka in terms of its assets (Rs 1.143 Trillion as at 31st December 2017) and is positioned as the Bank with the Highest Market Capitalization, all of which contributed to the 'Best Bank' award.
The Bank's new product launches in 2017 included the country's first Small and Medium Entrepreneurs networking society "BIZ Club;" a hybrid leasing facility; Debit Cards with Chip & PIN technology; a loan on fixed deposits facility; and the Hybrid Debit Card exclusively for entrepreneurs in the Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) sector.
Also corresponding to the award for Best Bank for Premium Services was Commercial Bank's personalized banking services offered for high net worth customers through the brand 'Commercial Bank Elite.' Elite Branches offer a number of exclusive services to clientele including the service of a dedicated Relationship Officer, state-of-the-art meeting room facilities, safe locker facilities and changing rooms for customers who travel from outstations.
In the sphere of CSR, Commercial Bank's largest contribution is towards IT education in Sri Lanka. To date the Bank has donated 175 fully fledged IT laboratories to schools island wide, benefitting over 200,000 students. The Bank has also partnered the 'Smart Schools Project, 'helping introduce a comprehensive Learning Management System (LMS) to 65 schools in the Western Province. The aim of the project is to transform the selected schools in to Smart Schools facilitating digital teaching processes.
Alongside these initiatives, the Commercial Bank has also invested in uplifting healthcare services and funding research related to preventing and mitigating Chronic Kidney Disease; undertaken projects to preserve the culture and heritage of the country and engaged in other CSR activities that contribute to preserving the environment and providing disaster relief among others. At the close of 2017, the Bank's CSR Trust had completed over 300 projects.
The only Sri Lankan bank to be ranked among the Top 1000 banks of the world for seven years consecutively, Commercial Bank operates a network of 261 branches and 756 ATMs in Sri Lanka. The Bank has won more than 30 international and local awards in 2016 and 2017 and has over the years received multiple awards as Sri Lanka's Best Bank, Best Trade Bank, Strongest Bank and Most Respected Bank from a number of local and international institutions and publications.
Commercial Bank's overseas operations encompass Bangladesh, where the Bank operates 19 outlets, Myanmar, where it has a Representative Office in Yangon, the Maldives, where the Bank has a fully-fledged Tier I Bank with a majority stake and Italy, where the Bank operates its own money transfer service.