HNB celebrates International Women’s Day with pledge to partner female-led businesses

A few of the dynamic women powering HNB

• Establishes dedicated desks to serve women-led SMEs from 10-16 March 
• Discounts on many value-added SME products
• Free financial, legal, secretarial advisory and wealth management services
• Concession on annual fee on SME Business Card, discounts on online B2B export platform
• Encourages any woman with a business plan to come forward
• Special women entrepreneur felicitation and networking events to be hosted on IWD

Sri Lanka’s most innovative bank, HNB PLC, celebrated International Women’s Day (IWD) 2020 with a special announcement for all women looking to establish or expand their business.

Throughout the week following IWD 2020 (10-16 March), HNB has pledged to set up Women Friendly SME desks across the entirety of its extensive Customer Service Centre network, with the goal of encouraging a new wave of grassroots female entrepreneurship across the island.

As a result, any woman seeking advice on everything from registering a company to securing a loan, building financial literacy, and even establishing new lines of export-focused business can contact or visit any HNB Customer Service Centre and be guaranteed a 1:1 consultation and personalised service during the month of March.

“While women make up a little over half of our nation’s population, they only account for approximately 36% of labour force participation. Meanwhile only 10% of the SME sector is comprised of women. It is an unfortunate reality that women in our society are actively hindered from reaching their full potential, due to archaic ideas that have been imposed on them that discourage them from getting employed and gaining financial independence. “If our nation has any chance of securing sustainable economic development, we must urgently rectify this disparity, and we need to start by creating a level playing field for every woman who seeks to choose their own path in life – be it personally or professionally. With the establishment of women-friendly SME desks in all of our branches, HNB expresses its total and unwavering commitment to serving as a partner in progress to each and every aspiring Sri Lankan female entrepreneur. We stand with you, and we are ready to serve,” HNB Deputy General Manager – Retail Banking and SME Sanjay Wijemanne stated.Consequently, between 10 and 16 March, HNB will be offering a host of special offers on SME products and services for all women entrepreneurs in order to assist them take their business to new heights. Special discounts will also be offered to women-led SMEs looking to leverage online B2B platforms to connect with international markets.

HNB was adjudged the Number One business entity among top Sri Lankan corporates by Business Today and has been receiving continuous praise for its pioneering initiatives across the entire spectrum of its operations. The Bank was judged ‘Best Managed Bank in Sri Lanka by the prestigious Asian Banker Magazine while the Bank’s Managing Director/CEO Jonathan Alles was conferred with the Asian Banker ‘CEO Leadership Achievement’ award.  Among its several accolades, HNB was declared ‘Sri Lanka’s Best Bank’ for 2019 by Euromoney Magazine for the third time, in addition to being ranked among the World Top 1000 Banks list compiled by the prestigious UK-based, Banker magazine, further strengthening its status as Sri Lanka’s pre-eminent private sector bank. Recently, HNB was recognised among the ‘Top 10 Most Admired Companies in Sri Lanka’ by the International Chamber of Commerce, Sri Lanka and the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA). HNB’s remarkable track record of excellence secured it the first place ranking ahead of all Sri Lankan banks included in the LMD Top 100 Club – a position which was evaluated based on its performance over the past 25 years.