Sampath Bank rounds up 2015 as Most Awarded Bank

Sampath Bank bids farewell to the year 2015 with immense pride and achievement, being recognised as the bank to have won the most number of awards for the year 2015. With 24 new accolades from 14 different ceremonies added to their growing awards shelves, Sampath Bank was placed in the limelight many a times in the past year with a stream of prestigious and coveted local and international awards. Sampath Bank was recognised with awards for its excellence in different areas ranging from Retail Banking to Brand Building to IT, Sustainability and CSR. 

Highlight of these awards were the two most critically acclaimed awards of the year 2015 – the ‘Bank of the Year’ award presented by The Banker Magazine of Financial Times, London and ‘The Overall Best Corporate Citizen’ award presented by the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce. 

Sampath Bank Managing Director Aravinda Perera receiving the award from Parliament Speaker Karu Jayasuriya with Ceylon Chamber of Commerce Chairman Samantha Ranatunga in 2015

The Banker Award is an international award that is celebrated as the ‘Oscars’ of the banking industry, covering a comprehensive criterion for recognition and evaluation. This award thus recognised Sampath Bank for its continuous and significant overall excellence in its approaches, management and banking practices not just in the local banking industry, but as well as among the international banking arenas.  The Banker Award together with the ‘Overall Best Corporate Citizen’ award righteously depicts Sampath Bank’s immense success and outstanding performance, proficient skills and bountiful experience in taking on and overcoming multiple challenges to present the future to its customers and the nation. 

The Best Corporate Citizen award on the other hand, assessed and recognised Sampath Bank for its unsurpassed sustainability practices and Corporate Excellence under the Triple Bottom Line that created an immensely positive impact on the Society, Environment and Economy whilst engaging in their main business. Under the same awarding body, Sampath Bank also won the Category award for ‘Best Performance in Customer Relations’, Sector award for ‘Best Performance in Finance Sector’, ‘Triple Bottom Line Award for Social Sustainability’ and also ‘The Top 10 Corporate Citizen Award’. The Best Corporate Citizen award therefore righteously honoured Sampath Bank for its efforts and commitment in going beyond the norms of the banking industry to not just offer valuable banking products and services to customers, but also enriching the welfare of the nation, the environment and its citizens. 

Sampath Bank Managing Director Aravinda Perera (middle) with BBC Correspondent and Television Celebrity Michael Buerk (left) and The Banker Asia Editor Stefania Palma (right) in 2015 

Adding yet another globally recognised award to its achievements of 2015, Sampath Bank was applauded as Sri Lanka’s Best Commercial and Retail Bank in 2015 by the World Finance Magazine. The World Finance Magazine, a world renowned bi-monthly magazine, provides in-depth coverage and analysis on the financial industry whilst regularly evaluating global companies. As such, Sampath Bank, with its overall excellence in commercial and retail banking was proudly recognised on a global scale as a leading contender amongst some of the most influential and enterprising local and international private organisations in the world.  For Sustainability, Sampath Bank was recognised as the 1st Runner Up – Banking Category in ACCA Sustainability Reporting Awards 2014 by ACCA Sri Lanka and was also awarded the Best Sustainability Report Award at the Asia Sustainability Excellence Awards 2015. Furthermore, Sampath Bank was recognised for its sustainability efforts in publishing its first integrated Annual Report in 2014 and was thus honoured with a Silver Award in the Banking Sector Category at the Annual Report Awards 2015 by CA Sri Lanka.

Sampath Bank further broke ground in the year 2015 for pioneering unique CSR initiatives that won two prestigious awards for Best Use of CSR Practices in Banking & Finance’, and a category award for ‘Poverty Alleviation’ at the fifth Asia Best CSR Practices Awards by CMO Asia. Furthermore, Sampath Bank won an award in the ‘Health Promotion’ Category at Asia Responsible Entrepreneurship Awards 2015 by Enterprise Asia as well as a Silver Award for its ‘Overall Excellence in Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting’ at the Annual Report Awards 2015 by CA Sri Lanka.  In addition to the significant CSR initiatives that built a strong image around Sampath Bank being a responsible corporate citizen, the Bank also received the Gold Award for CSR Brand of the Year 2015 at the 14th SLIM Brand Excellence Awards and the 1st Runner Up Award for the Best Television Commercial of the Year at Sumathi Awards 2015, in recognition of its efforts for creating a valuable brand image. 

Since inception to the banking industry, Sampath Bank has expanded its footprint across the island with numerous ATM networks, products and services. It has remained a fore runner in coupling convenience with technological advancements and innovations in order to remain a prime contender in the rapidly growing banking industry of Sri Lanka, whilst catering to the needs of customers that evolve with technological advancements in today’s world. 

As such, Sampath Bank was recognised by the National Awards for Science and Technology Achievements (NASTA) with the award for Technology Development and Application through Local Partnerships Award 2014 and was awarded the Most Popular Website in the Corporate, Banking and Finance Category and the Bronze Award in the same category in Bestweb.lk Awards 2015 by the LK Domain Registry. Adding to the IT category, Sampath Bank also won the Runner-Up Award at the Infosys Finacle Innovation Awards 2015 for ‘Sampath Cardless Cash’ in the Product Innovation category and the Bronze Award for ‘Automated Teller Safe’ in the In-house Application Category at National Best Quality Software Awards (NBQSA) 2015.  Similarly, Sampath Bank was also awarded by the Visa India & South Asia Client Forum 2015 for its outstanding achievement in Highest Credit Card Portfolio Growth amongst banks in Sri Lanka, as well as for the Highest Growth in POS and E-Commerce Acceptance among banks in Sri Lanka. The year 2015 has been a year of success for Sampath Bank – from carrying out several CSR initiatives that saw change in people’s lives to launching technologically advanced products and services that broke the norms of the banking industry. Remarking on this great year of achievements, Sampath Bank Managing Director Aravinda Perera said, “Reaching this pinnacle of success is much owed to our customers, shareholders, community and staff, who have been an integral part of driving the bank to stay true our principles and in achieving this milestone. We will continue to focus on being innovative, listening to our stakeholders and delivering in the most beneficial way. A whole hearted thank you is thus extended to our stakeholders for the constant and utmost loyalty and support.”