ComBank offers career guidance to female undergraduates of Colombo University

Shattering the glass ceiling, career strategies and entering into entrepreneurship were among the focal points of a programme conducted by the Commercial Bank of Ceylon recently for a group of female undergraduates of the University of Colombo (UoC) in commemoration of International Women’s Day.

The programme was organised by Commercial Bank under the ‘Anagi’ Women’s Banking initiative in collaboration with the Career Guidance Unit of the Faculty of Arts of the University. It included two panel discussions, one led by female corporate management members of Commercial Bank and the other by several leading female entrepreneurs who are also customers of the Bank.

The Bank said that the programme was designed after an assessment of the need for non-financial services more than the traditional financial services offered by the Bank to this segment.

In the first panel, Commercial Bank Assistant General Managers (AGMs) Personal Banking – Ms Mithila Shamini and Ms Dharshanie Perera, AGM Legal – Ms Namal Gamage, and AGM Corporate Banking – Ms Tamara Bernard shared their experiences and insights about beginning a career and climbing up the corporate ladder.

Panelists of the second session were Deshabandu Dr. Thushari Koralage (Ph.D.), Founder & Principal of Asian Grammar School and Giggles International, Ms. Achala Samaradivakara, Co-founder & Managing Director of Good Market Global, Ms. Vindya Perera, Managing Director of Brilliant Cuts (Pvt) Ltd., and Ms. Niro M. Peris, Founder of Eli Products which manufactures natural local alternatives to imported food and beverages. The panelists shared their experiences and insights from their successful entrepreneurial journeys with the audience.

Commenting on the programme, Commercial Bank Managing Director and Group Chief Executive Officer Mr S. Renganathan said: “The Bank has been focusing on supporting sustainable economic development in the country. This also means supporting the women who make up close to 35% of the labour force in Sri Lanka. We are fully aware that sustainable economic development cannot be achieved without women in the equation, and programmes like the recent one with university students are designed with this in mind.”

Participating students were given the opportunity to ask questions after each panel. This event which was held at the NewArts Theater of the Colombo University also saw the participation of members of the Bank’s Corporate Management, including Mr Delakshan Hettiarachchi – Deputy General Manager Personal Banking and Mr S. Ganeshan – Assistant General Manager Personal Banking. The event was graced by the Vice Chancellor of the UoC, Senior Professor Chandrika N. Wijeyaratne. The Dean of the Arts Faculty, Senior Professor Lasantha Manawadu and members of the Career Guidance Unit were also present.

Commercial Bank recently launched a new loan product, the ‘Anagi Business Loan for Women Small and Medium Entrepreneurs (WSME)’ and expanded its ‘Anagi’ Women’s Banking portfolio to exclusively support the aspirations of women. The ‘Anagi’ brand name was first used by Commercial Bank with a Women’s Savings Account launched in 2012 with the intention of influencing Sri Lankan women to build their financial stability by empowering them with features such as a higher interest rate over regular savings accounts and zero restrictions on withdrawals.

The Commercial Bank of Ceylon has also been in a longstanding and successful relationship with the IFC, both in financial and advisory capacities. In 2020, the Bank undertook a strategic initiative by partnering with IFC – under the IFC-DFAT Women in Work programme – to carry out a ‘Gender Advisory Project’ to further improve its focus on the needs of female customers. This is positioned as a 360-degree approach to focus on both financial and non-financial aspects, including training to further improve the quality of the interaction between bank staff and this customer segment.

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 11 years consecutively, Commercial Bank operates a network of 268 branches and 938 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.