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The Commercial Bank of Ceylon has announced the achievement of several milestones in service delivery in 2016 through operational developments that complemented its stellar financial performance.
Sri Lanka’s most profitable private bank according to recently published figures, the bank said its branch expansion program saw it end 2016 as the largest private bank in the country in terms of physical presence, with 256 branches and an ATM network of 658 terminals, a network that achieved an impressive 99.6% uptime during the year.
Efforts to expand self-service banking saw Commercial Bank commission five new Automated Banking Centres at which customers can access an extensive list of services entirely on their own.
“We firmly believe that our focus on service delivery, be it via technology or brick and mortar branches, is one of the key pillars of our success and exceptional financial performance,” Commercial Bank Managing Director/CEO Jegan Durairatnam said. “As a result, we remain the biggest private sector bank in Sri Lanka, and amongst the leading organisations that provide customer convenience through technology-based automation.”
Another example of the bank’s investments in automation was the installation of 29 CashDeposit Machines (CDMs) and 10 Cash Recycler machines in 2016, taking the total number of CDMs to 40. The CDMs completely eliminate the use of paper and are therefore an important step in eco-friendly operations. The Cash Recycler machines are particularly useful to Micro and SME entrepreneurs who use of the facility to deposit their daily cash collections even after banking hours.
Commercial Bank also enabled the card-less withdrawal function across its ATM network country-wide in 2016, adding a new level of convenience for its customers. The bank’s ATMs enable automated bill payments to more than 25 institutions in addition to the cash withdrawal facility. The ATM network of the bank penetrates even the most remote areas of the country with state-of-the-art terminalswithin branches and at off-site locations. Significantly, more than half of Commercial Bank’s ATMs are in off-site locations for easy access by commuters, employees of industrial zones and the public at large.
For new branches in buildings it owns, Commercial Bank has developed a new eco-friendly model in yet another initiative to align its operations with the needs of the planet. These custom-built branches are equipped with an eco-friendly architectural design with energy efficient ‘passive features’ such as renewable energy from solar panels and walls with more glazed windows and fixed glass panels for maximum utilisation of natural light, as well as heat gain arresting devices such as shades and fins that facilitate power saving. To date, 10 such Green branches have been added to the bank’s network.
Taking its commitment to the planet further, Commercial Bank achieved a significant reduction in the use of paper in 2016 by actively promoting the migration of customers from traditional banking channels to digital platforms such as mobile and online banking and its sophisticated ‘e-Passbook.’
The bank’s other environment related initiatives include programs to reduce its carbon footprint through energy saving, energy optimisation and responsible fleet and vehicle management,responsible disposal and recycling of materials, responsible water consumption, the discontinuation of the use of products that emit ozone-depleting substances and protecting the bio diversity in areas where branches are present.
Efforts to make branches more accessible to the differently-abled customer segment also made steady progress in 2016, with the bank completing the construction of 190 wheel chair ramps covering 75% of its branch network.
In the sphere of financial performance, Commercial Bank ended 2016 with the momentous feat of becoming the first private bank in the country to surpass one trillion rupees in assets and had the largest deposits (Rs. 739.5 billion) and advances (Rs. 633.3 billion) portfolio in the private sector. The bank’s profit after tax of Rs. 14.5 billion makes it the most profitable private bank in Sri Lanka.
Commercial Bank’s key financial parameters such as CASA (Current Account to Savings Account ratio), Cost to Income ratio, Net Operating Income and Capital Adequacy ratio all recorded outstanding growth making them among the best in the industry.
Commercial Bank’s also further improved its international footprint by opening a fully-fledged Tier I Bank with a stake of 55% in the Maldives in September 2016 and by launching its own money transfer operation ‘Commex’ in Italy. The bank’s other overseas operations encompass Bangladesh, where the bank operates 19 outlets and Myanmar, where it has a Representative Office in Yangon.
