HNB’s leadership foray in Dividends Issuance Business

Sri Lanka’s most digitally innovative bank, HNB PLC announced stellar performances for its fully integrated web-based Payments and Cash Management (PCM) platform over the first quarter of 2018.

Standing as the first Sri Lankan bank to have introduced a digitally-enabled PCM solution for local corporates, HNB has quickly secured a leadership position in the dividend issuance business, with several of the country’s largest and most successful public limited companies mandating the bank to support in their dividend issuances.

Commenting on the success of the bank’s innovative PCM platform, HNB DGM – Corporate Banking, Ruwan Manatunga noted that since launch, the PCM platform has already supported such companies to conveniently digitize the issuing of dividends.

“As we now head into the second quarter of 2018, HNB continues to win a significant number of high profile dividend issuance mandates. I believe that this success stands as a testament to the quality and reliability of our PCM platform which large corporates continue to choose as their preferred solution for all payments and cash management functions.

“Above all, our goal is to continue to develop and leverage cutting edge technological solutions, seamless end-to-end processing capabilities and the best market support team in the country to ultimately create meaningful market value and unmatched customer service experiences. Moving forward, we anticipate substantial gains through increase in acceptance of our PCM platform,” Manatunga noted.

The Bank provides the capability to local corporates to initiate and process dividend issuance via HNB Online platform, by following company specific financial authorization matrix stipulated for their dividend issuance. Once corporate approvals are completed, dividend warrants are printed at the Bank premises along with the MICR line. Furthermore, HNB also offers support with mailing of warrants to shareholders with the entire solution being offered to local corporates at preferential pricing.

HNB’s cash management solutions offering covers Corporates, ranging from multinationals, large local conglomerates, mid-market enterprises, financial institution groups and non-banking financial institutions.

During 1Q 2018, notable large corporate names that HNB has supported with their dividend issuance include amongst others Hayleys Group Companies, Aitken Spence Hotels Ltd., The Lighthouse Hotel PLC, The Nuwara Eliya Hotels Company PLC (Grand Hotel Nuwara Eliya), Asiri Surgical Hospital PLC, Dilmah Ceylon Tea Company PLC and Malwatte Valley Plantations PLC.

Maintaining an island-wide presence across 251 customer centres, HNB’s also offers some of Sri Lanka’s most innovative internet and mobile banking services in the country that are designed to usher in a new technology-enabled banking paradigm.

The bank continues to receive local and global recognition for its Payments and Cash Management business and was recently awarded the best bank by Asiamoney for Cash Management.

About HNB

Operating across 251 customer centers island-wide, HNB PLC is Sri Lanka’s largest private sector commercial bank, having been declared Bank of the Year 2017 by the prestigious British financial magazine The Banker, in recognition of its performance as the most profitable banking group and for introducing unprecedented innovations to the domestic banking industry. HNB was adjudged ‘Best Retail Bank 2018 in Sri Lanka’ for the 10th time while being recognized as having the ‘Best Micro finance Product 2017 in the Asia Pacific Region’. The ‘Asia Money Magazine’ awarded HNB ‘Best Bank for SME’ and the ‘Best Bank for CSR’ in the country’. CFA Sri Lanka bestowed HNB with a ‘Bronze’ award for Investor Relations while HNB’s Annual Report was adjudged to be among the top 10 integrated reports at the CMA Sri Lanka awards 2017. HNB’s leadership in technology was also recognized with the Bank’s ATM network being awarded the ‘Best ATM Network of the Year’ at the Lanka Pay Technovation Awards 2017. Furthermore, HNB moved up the ranks to be No. 3 in the LMD Top 100 Companies and to the No. 2 position in Business Today top 30 rankings, which places HNB as the highest ranked bank in both these rankings.

HNB is the first local Bank in Sri Lanka to receive an international rating on par with the sovereign from Moody’s Investor Services while maintaining a national long term rating of AA – (lka) from Fitch Ratings Lanka Ltd., and amongst the top 1000 banks in the world by The Banker.