Commercial Bank launches new paperless green banking facility

Commercial Bank Managing Director/CEO Jegan Durairatnam declares open the bank’s new green banking channel at the bank’s Rajagiriya branch in the presence of senior officials of the bank

The Commercial Bank of Ceylon has commissioned the first of a new generation of automated cash deposit terminals that completely eliminate the use of paper, in another example of the bank’s continuing investment in green technology and sustainable development.

Dispensing with deposit slips and envelopes, the new machine installed at the bank’s Rajagiriya branch has a stacker that can accept and count up to 200 notes at a go, enabling customers to make deposits of up to Rs. 200,000 at a time into savings or current accounts, 24 hours of the day.

The same machine may also be used to pay dues on Commercial Bank credit cards, the bank said.

The new green banking channel was formally commissioned by Commercial Bank Managing Director/CEO Jegan Durairatnam on 30 June. The bank said it plans to commission more such machines across its branch network, to significantly reduce the use of paper in deposit transactions.

“This new machine enables our customers to join the bank it is efforts to save trees and help the planet, while enjoying even greater convenience than before,” Commercial Bank Chief Operating Officer S. Renganathan said. “With no deposit slips to fill in, their time at the terminal will be reduced even further, making for shorter or no queues.”

The machine accepts four denominations of currency notes – Rs. 5,000, Rs. 1,000, Rs. 500 and Rs. 100. Soiled or damaged notes, notes of other denominations or foreign currency notes will not be accepted and will be returned to the depositor via a reject tray. Coins will also not be accepted.

Customers making credit card payments have the option of inserting the respective cards, or keying in the card numbers prior to placing the currency notes on the stacker.

Every deposit will be confirmed on the machine’s screen and customers will receive an electronic or printed receipt as required, acknowledging their deposits, the bank said.

Besides its efforts to promote a paperless society by converting more customers to electronic banking systems, Commercial Bank’s environment-related initiatives include programs to reduce the bank’s 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 its branches are present.

In recent proactive projects to protect the environment, the bank funded a ground-breaking initiative to replant damaged corals in the seas off Hikkaduwa, and landscaped one and a half acres of land of the National Hospital premises to minimise environment pollution and improve the mental wellbeing of the patients.

The largest private bank in the country, the Commercial Bank of Ceylon has 243 branches in Sri Lanka, more than 60 of which are open even on bank holidays, and a network of 613  ATMs, which is the largest cash-dispensing system owned by a single bank in the country.

The only Sri Lankan bank to be listed among the top 1,000 banks of the world for the past four years, and ranked the Best Bank in Sri Lanka by FinanceAsia in 2015, Commercial Bank is the winner of multiple awards as Sri Lanka’s best bank over several years. 

The bank was ranked the most valuable private sector brand in Sri Lanka in 2014 and was adjudged one of Sri Lanka’s 10 best corporate citizens by the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce in 2013 and 2014.It has been rated the Most Respected Bank in Sri Lanka by LMD, a leading business magazine, for the past 10 years. 

The bank has also been the second Most Respected Corporate entity in the country overall for the past four years in the LMD rankings, and has been rated No. 1 in Sri Lanka for Honesty in 2013 and 2014 by the magazine.