ComBank launches maturity-based foreign currency investment plan

Modelled on popular ‘Millionaire’ account, new plan enables savings of 10,000 upwards in four currencies in 3 to 5 years

The Commercial Bank of Ceylon has announced the launch of a unique investment plan that enables Sri Lankans earning foreign currency to save fixed monthly amounts and enjoy attractive interest rates to build savings of US$ 10,000 upwards or the equivalent in three other currencies, in a relatively short period.

Named ‘Millionaire Investment Plan in Foreign Currency,’ the account is modelled on the Bank’s already successful ‘Millionaire Investment Plan’ and offers interest rates that are higher than competing products in the market for tenures of three, four or five years on savings in US Dollars, Euros, Sterling Pounds and Australian Dollars.

The new plan makes it possible for customers to plan how much they want to save within a selected period based on the corresponding fixed monthly deposit they can comfortably commit to, and build an investment in US$/€/£/A$ to the value of 10,000, 25,000, 50,000, 100,000 or 250,000 in any one of these denominations at maturity.

For example, to save a lump sum of 10,000 in five years in one of the currency denominations of their choice, customers would only have to deposit monthly amounts of US$ 133.50, €146.50, £142.75, or A$139, the Bank said.

The ‘Millionaire Investment Plan in Foreign Currency,’ was introduced not only to encourage foreign currency investments and foreign remittances into the country but to also provide Sri Lankans earning in foreign currency an opportunity to save and enjoy higher returns on their hard-earned money within a short period of time, the Bank said.

This special foreign currency investment plan can be opened by Sri Lankan citizens employed overseas, Sri Lankan dual citizens residing anywhere, Sri Lankans holding Permanent Residency status or citizenship in another country, who are resident in or outside Sri Lanka, as well as by Sri Lankans residing in Sri Lanka while earning in foreign currency. To be eligible to open an account, customers should be 18 years or above and able to make monthly deposits in a foreign currency of choice.

Furthermore, these investors should maintain a Commercial Bank Personal Foreign Currency Account (PFC) from which the agreed amount in monthly deposits can be transferred to their respective Millionaire Investment Plans in Foreign Currency. At maturity, the guaranteed target investment amount will be transferred to each customer’s PFC.

Commercial Bank recently also launched ‘Forex Plus,’ another competitive and reliable instrument in the form of a special Foreign Currency Fixed Deposit scheme that offers interest rates of up to 9.5% per annum for tenures of up to five years on foreign currency term deposits in the same international currencies.

Sri Lanka’s first 100% carbon neutral bank, the first Sri Lankan bank to be listed among the Top 1000 Banks of the World and the only Sri Lankan bank to be so listed for 12 years consecutively, Commercial Bank operates a network of 269 branches and 943 automated machines in Sri Lanka. Commercial Bank is the largest lender to Sri Lanka’s SME sector and is a leader in digital innovation in the country’s Banking sector. The Bank’s overseas operations encompass Bangladesh, where the Bank operates 19 outlets; Myanmar, where it has a Microfinance company in Nay Pyi Taw; and the Maldives, where the Bank has a fully-fledged Tier I Bank with a majority stake.