Bank account for everyone from Bank of Ceylon during Thrift Week

With the Government initiatives for financial inclusion, Bank of Ceylon has brought forward ‘Samata Ginumak’ initiative to open an account for unbanked Sri Lankans to become bankable through thrift/saving among them during ‘Thrift Week’. 

Accounts can be opened during 24 to 31 October under this promotion at any BOC branch and the bank will deposit Rs. 250 as the initial deposit at the opening of the account for those who do not maintain any type of savings account with the bank. 

BOC Ran Kekulu or Athfal special savings can also be opened for children under the age of 18 and every other person will be entitled for special savings account under this ‘Samata Ginumak’ campaign. The idea is that ‘thrift’ promotes the custom or habit of saving among the people. It also incorporates the idea of spending wisely or making an investment. 

In 1924 in Milan, 31 October was declared as the World Thrift Day at the end of the first International Thrift Congress. The date is celebrated with the objective of stressing the importance of saving for a modern economy and for individuals.

Bank of Ceylon with its 77 years of dedicated service to the nation has made a relentless effort to instill the virtue of ‘thrift’ among all social segments. “The bank promotes accounts for non-account holders in the country by making the initial deposit from BOC to encourage every citizen to maintain a bank account and save. As a State bank we are carrying out this campaign in line with the Government policy and initiated the program ‘Samata Ginumak’ during Thrift Week,” stated Deputy General Manager Sales and Channel Management Senarath Bandara. 

“BOC boasts of over 1,200 customer touch points that includes the recently added CDM Network to give a unique modern day digital banking experience to all our customers,” Bandara added. 

Currently the bank caters to the saving and investment requirements of the whole family, beginning from Ran Kekulu children’s savings account and ‘Power Plus’ children investment plan, 14 Plus teen account and 18 Plus youth savings accounts, Kantha Ran Ginum for women, BOC savings account and  senior citizens account. 

Giving full confidence and convenience to customers the bank has introduced ‘SmartGen’ option to convert existing 18 Plus, Kantha Ran Ginum, Senior Citizen accounts and normal savings accounts. This will bring their saving account to a digital platform that gives instant access to the account 24x7 all 365 days. The free internet banking facility that is provided with this feature enables one to do all account transactions from anywhere and receive SMS alert to an assigned phone immediately and later obtain the monthly statement online.