HNB paves the way for entrepreneurial growth with launch of new business card

From left: HNB Chief Operating Officer Dilshan Rodrigo, HNB Deputy General Manager – Retail Banking Sanjay Wijemanne, Mastercard Country Manager – Sri Lanka and Maldives R. B. Santosh Kumar, HNB Managing Director/CEO Jonathan Alles, HNB Deputy General Manager – SME and Midmarket Jude Fernando and HNB Assistant General Manager – Network Management Nirosh Perera

Sri Lanka’s most innovative bank, HNB PLC announced the launch of a convenient new business card specially designed to empower the country’s most dynamic enterprises with complete digitisation and comprehensive, secure management of organisational transactions, in partnership with Mastercard. 

The latest in a wave of business-focused innovations from HNB, the new business card can be authorised and provided to owners and employees of an enterprise as a substitute to petty cash payments, capable of handling any transaction locally and internationally – enabling high level employees of business entities to conveniently and reliably manage their personal expenses at home or abroad – excluding payment for the import of goods for commercial purposes.

“Throughout HNB’s extended history partnering an extensive range of businesses from Small and Medium to Large scale Enterprises, we have consistently worked to engage with our clients in order to understand their needs, and develop products and services capable of levelling the playing field. 

“The launch of the HNB Business Card stands as another important advancement in our vision to catalyse Sri Lanka’s entrepreneurial spirit by streamlining and digitising cash management. By switching over from a manual system to a single digital platform for all transactions, we hope to provide our entrepreneurial customers with complete accountability for all payments,” HNB Managing Director/CEO Jonathan Alles noted. 

Essentially functioning on the same level as HNB’s corporate offerings, the Business Card will also entitle holders to a wide range of special discounts, local and international offers on accommodation, dining and travel with Mastercard, free travel insurance for air tickets purchased through the card, free membership to 850+ airport lounges through LoungeKey as well as value additions. 

“Financial empowerment of businesses is critical to driving economic activity and sustained growth. Hence, we are delighted to partner with HNB on the launch of the Mastercard HNB Business Card. We look forward to seeing businesses across Sri Lanka avail the convenience, security and transparency offered by such digital payments solutions and transform the way they do business,” said Mastercard Country Manager – Sri Lanka and Maldives R.B. Santosh Kumar. 

“Enabling speed through convenience is at the core of HNB’s strategy. In essence, we have sought to completely automate petty cash payments so that anything from a fuel payment, to expenses incurred by key personnel when travelling overseas to drum up business, can be handled with ease using the Business Card,” HNB Deputy General Manager – SME and Midmarket Jude Fernando explained. 

The introduction of HNB’s Business Card follows the recent launch of a special new SME Export Credit facility developed in collaboration with the Export Development Board of Sri Lanka (EDB) – the first of its kind in Sri Lanka. 

The special facility aims to on-board new-to-bank export clients for pre and post shipment financing with limited tangible security, with special emphasis on tea, rubber, spices, cinnamon, coconut, textiles and garments, fisheries and related industries and is already fostering unprecedented new opportunities for export-oriented growth in the SME sector. 

In keeping with its unmatched strategy of SME empowerment, HNB had also previously launched a specially designed integrated e-commerce platform in partnership with e-commerce Software as a Service (SaaS) provider, WEBXPAY – a platform which has already won over in excess of 450 merchants across the island.