The Commercial Bank of Ceylon has won the awards of ‘Best Bank for Small and Medium Enterprises’ and ‘Best Bank for Corporate Social Responsibility’ for the second year in a row from Asiamoney Magazine, the top-ranking publication and authority on banking and capital markets in Asia.
The award for ‘Best Bank for SMEs’ recognises Commercial Bank’s efforts in identifying the importance of small and medium enterprises to the economy of the country and the products and services put in place to empower this segment, while the ‘Best Bank for Corporate Social Responsibility’ award is a tribute to the Bank’s nationally-significant contributions via its CSR Trust, to the spheres of education, healthcare, environment and community development.
The Bank clinched the first award for its persistent efforts to support small and medium businesses (SMEs) affected by the pandemic in 2020, with among others, the disbursement of a substantial amount in COVID-19 support loans by the close of the year under multiple relief schemes to provide working capital loans to pandemic affected businesses, including loans provided under the Central Bank mandated programme as well as the Bank’s own support schemes.
The Bank launched ‘Arunella’ – a Financial Support Scheme that included 12 initiatives designed to assist and provide concessions to SMEs. Commercial Bank is one of the largest lenders to the SME sector in Sri Lanka. Apart from specilaised savings accounts, loan products and personalised service offered to SME customers, the Bank has taken the initiative to launch an exclusive Credit Card for SMEs and also launched ComBank Biz Club, with the objective of providing SMEs with extensive networking opportunities, support beyond lending and a range of other benefits including special bank concessions and a personalised Biz Club Debit Card. Members also receive economic updates and alerts on new business developments via email and SMS and free registration for Online Banking facilities. The CSR award is a tribute to the Bank’s continued support to community projects, despite the pandemic. In 2020, Commercial Bank donated Rs 10 million to the National COVID-19 Healthcare and Social Security Fund and joined forces with the Sri Lankan Army’s ‘Thuru Mithuru’ project focused on driving Sri Lanka towards self-sufficiency in essential food. Persisting with its contribution towards IT education in Sri Lanka, the Bank donated its 200th fully-equipped IT laboratory and set up Coding Clubs in 50 schools and initiated a project to establish 100 STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics) classrooms in 100 schools.
