ComBank remittance customers win Rs. 5 m in four months

The prize winners with Commercial Bank Managing Director and CEO Sanath Manatunge (sixth from left) and Chief Operating Officer S. Prabagar (eighth from left), and representatives of the bank’s corporate and senior management

The Commercial Bank of Ceylon recently presented Rs. 5 million in cash prizes to the lucky winners of the bank’s ‘Win a Million’ remittance promotion launched in January this year. 

This included cheques to the value of Rs. 1 million each to four first prize winners and consolation prizes of Rs. 25,000 each to another 40 remittance customers who won in the four months ending April 2022. The bank said it plans to continue this promotion to produce more millionaires while encouraging customers to use its remittance channels. 

The four grand prize winners of Rs. 1 million are Y.C.S. Peiris of Moratuwa, A.D. Malani Somalatha Fernando of Kiribathgoda, W. Sakun Madhuranga Thamel of Wennappuwa and Sivakumar Dilani of Horana, all of who received remittances from the Middle East region. 

The ‘Win a Million’ promotion enabled recipients of money via ComBank RemitPlus – the remittance service of the bank – to automatically enter into a prize draw that took place once a month. 

Every customer who received remittances directly to a Commercial Bank Account between January and April and those who collected the remitted cash from a Commercial Bank branch close to them were eligible to enter these draws. After the conclusion of each monthly draw, the bank published details of the winners on its social media platforms as well as the bank’s ‘RemitPlus’ App.

The bank said the ‘Win a Million’ campaign was launched to encourage recipients of remittances to directly approach the bank and remittance partners, to promote direct remittances, help reach untapped markets, boost customer loyalty and retention, attract customers of global partners, and popularise its Remittance Card, RemitPlus app, and related value-added services.  

The promotion was also designed to provide customers with a substantial incentive to move away from informal remittance channels such as Hawala and Undiyal, the bank added. ‘Win a Million’ rewards migrant workers by giving them the chance to enhance their living standards by building a house, purchasing land, buying household essentials, or starting a business that will sustain them when they return home and therefore was widely popular among the bank’s remittance customers. 

Remit Plus is the instant money transfer service of Commercial Bank which enables Sri Lankan expatriates to make instant money transfers from many countries around the world. A sophisticated, low cost, real time, online money transfer facility, Remit Plus can be accessed by remitters through a network of agents. 

The bank’s business partners for remittances in more than 130 countries provide remittance services through which the amount is credited to relevant Commercial Bank accounts instantly at any time of the day, any day of the year.

‘ComBank RemitPlus’ is a remittance app that enables those who use the bank’s remittance services to conveniently access remittance-related information and services. The mobile app which could be downloaded for both iOS and Android operating systems serves as an information app and connects both the remitter and sender for interactions about the tracking of the remittance. 

No joining fee or annual fee is levied on the usage of this app. Regular remittance receivers are eligible to open a Remittance Account at any one of the bank’s branches and are eligible to obtain a Remittance Card, free of charge.