Thursday Dec 12, 2024
Thursday Dec 12, 2024
Monday, 11 January 2016 00:05 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
The automated teller machines (ATMs) of Commercial Bank dispensed a mindboggling Rs. 37.321 billion in December 2015, averaging Rs. 1.204 billion a day, and processing an incredible 6.682 million transactions at a daily average of 215,548, Sri Lanka’s largest private bank reports.
The 618-terminal network, the largest owned by a single bank in the country, dispensed Rs. 1,976.8 million on 23 December as festive shopping reached its peak around the island. On 24 days in December, the Commercial Bank ATM network recorded withdrawals in excess of Rs. 1 billion a day, and withdrawals totalling more than Rs 1.5 billion a day on five days, the bank said. Total withdrawals in December 2015 reflected an increase of Rs. 4,160 million or 12.5% over the total for December 2014.
On two days in December, the 23rd and 31st, the Commercial Bank switch processed a record 407,000 and 411,000 ATM and Point of Sale transactions, demonstrating its capacity.
The highest single day total for withdrawals recorded by the Commercial Bank ATM network to date was set on Friday, 10 April 2015, when users withdrew Rs. 2.49 billion in the run-up to the Sinhala and Tamil New Year.
The bank said the figures for December 2015 reflect a consistent increase in dependence on the Bank’s ATM network, underline the indispensable role it plays in the lives of millions of people in Sri Lanka and reaffirm the value of the technology as well as the capacity, robustness and reliability of the network. These aspects assume greater significance during peak shopping seasons such as the Sinhala and Tamil New Year and Christmas.
The Commercial Bank ATM network is the largest automated cash dispensing facility owned by a single bank in Sri Lanka. Holders of Commercial Bank’s standard ATM cum Shopping Debit Cards can withdraw up to Rs. 40,000 from the bank’s ATMs per withdrawal. The bank also offers customers the option of setting their own ATM withdrawal limits up to a maximum of Rs. 100,000 a day and a point-of-sale limit of up to Rs. 500,000.
The only Sri Lankan bank to be ranked among the Top 1000 banks of the world for five consecutive years, Commercial Bank operates a network of 246 branches in Sri Lanka. The bank was ranked the most valuable private sector brand in Sri Lanka in 2014 and has also won multiple awards as Sri Lanka’s best bank from a number of international publications over several years. The bank was adjudged one of Sri Lanka’s 10 best corporate citizens by the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce in 2013 and 2014.
Commercial Bank’s overseas operations encompass Bangladesh, where the bank operates 18 branches and Myanmar, where it has a Representative Office in Yangon. In September 2015, the bank received regulatory approval for the establishment of a fully-fledged Tier I Bank in the Maldives.
