Commercial Bank wins two awards from International Banker – UK

Adjudged ‘Best Commercial Bank of the Year’ and receives ‘Best Innovation in Retail Banking’ for 2017

The Commercial Bank of Ceylon won the awards for the ‘Best Commercial Bank of the Year’ and ‘Best Innovation in Retail Banking’ presented by the prestigious UK based quarterly publication ‘International Banker.’

This is the first time the Bank won two awards from ‘International Banker’ in the same year. Notably, the Bank won the ‘Best Commercial Bank of the Year’ in 2015, and was also awarded ‘The Best Private Bank of the Year’ in 2016 by the publication.

The International Banker award for the Best Commercial Bank of the Year recognises the strength of Commercial Bank as reflected in the Bank’s stellar financial performance, its contribution to the country’s Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) sector, the Bank’s contribution to the economy of Sri Lanka and how it has overcome the challenges in the market place.

The ‘Best Innovation in Retail Banking’ award was presented to the Bank in recognition of its innovative and technologically advanced features that enhance anytime-anywhere accessibility and convenience for customers as well as the innovative retail banking products launched by the Bank for different customer segments and sectors.

“These awards are a testament to our continuous commitment to excelling in all spheres of banking, and constantly challenging ourselves to look for better and more innovative ways to serve our customers each year,” commented Mr Jegan Durairatnam, the Managing Director/CEO of Commercial Bank. “We value these awards because their emphasis is not size, but who does what best.”

The International Banker Banking Awards were established to recognise top-ranking individuals and organisations setting new benchmarks for performance and pushing the boundaries within the financial industry in terms of corporate governance, technological development and customer service that help to drive economic growth in the countries in which they operate.

The Awards were open to all banking institutions regardless of size, market capitalisation or number of employees. The sole concern of the awards is to highlight the best banks globally.

Recognising deserving banks across countries from North and South America, Western and Eastern Europe, Asia and Australasia, the Middle East and Africa, ‘International Banker’ awards top performers in the categories encompassing Best Banking Group, Investment Bank of the Year, Commercial Bank of the Year, Private Bank of Year, Innovation in Retail Banking, Best Practice Investor Relations, and Best Customer Service Provider.

The Commercial Bank has won several international and local awards and accolades this year. It was named Sri Lanka’s Best Bank by the USA based Global Finance; was adjudged the ‘Best Domestic Bank’ and the ‘Best Digital Bank’ in Sri Lanka by Asiamoney; was recognized as the Best Bank in Sri Lanka by FinanceAsia; the Bank’s website was adjudged the best in Sri Lanka’s financial sector at the inaugural SLT Zero One Awards presented by Sri Lanka Telecom and the Bank was ranked among the Top 1000 Banks of the World for the seventh consecutive year. The Bank also won four awards for Best Use of CSR Practices in Banking and Finance, Developing Sustainability Strategies, Concern for Health, and Support and Improvement in Quality of Education, all in the sphere of Corporate Social Responsibility presented at the Sri Lanka Marketing, HR and CSR Leadership Awards.

The International Banker magazine claims to reach more than 60,000 of the world’s most influential financial leaders, and is therefore widely accepted to provide up-to-date analytical information on finance to help senior-level executives of banks and financial institutions actualise their responsibilities such as maximising shareholder value and increasing return on investment.

Commercial Bank operates a network of 256 branches and 695 ATMs in Sri Lanka. The Bank won 10 major international awards in 2016 and has over the years won 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. It has also been adjudged one of Sri Lanka’s 10 best corporate citizens by the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce for several years.

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 opened a fully-fledged Tier I Bank with a stake of 55% in September 2016 and Italy, where the Bank launched its own money transfer service in November 2016.