The Hatton National Bank (HNB) has notched up a major accolade at the seventh Asian Banker Excellence in Retail Financial Services Awards: The Best Retail Bank in Sri Lanka, says a press release.
HNB Managing Director Rajendra Theagarajah received the award on behalf of the bank at the Asian Banker Excellence in Retail Financial Services, 2008 Awards ceremony, held in conjunction with the region's most prestigious retail banking event, the Excellence in Retail Financial Services Convention.
The ceremony was held at the Westin Grande Sukhumvit in Bangkok in the evening of May 16, 2008. About 150 senior bankers from award winning banks in 23 countries across the Asia Pacific, the Gulf region and Central Asia attended the glittering event, the industry's celebration of the region's best retail bankers that recognise their efforts in bringing superior products and services to their customers.
The awards programme, administered by The Asian Banker, and refered by prominent global bankers, consultants, and academics, is the most prestigious award of its kind. The Hatton National Bank has won the prestigious 'Best Retail Bank in Sri Lanka' award in The Asian Banker Excellence in Retail Financial Services programme for its performance in 2007.
The fast improving Hatton National Bank chalked up record income and strong profit growth at a challenging time for Sri Lanka's banks. Unlike its foreign competitors, HNB possesses a wide reaching franchise with 40 percent of its network in areas outside the more developed western provinces and a thriving micro finance portfolio. It attracted an 18 percent increase in deposits through its flagship savings products in a market that sees fierce competition for low cost deposits.
The bank is also making good progress in expanding its channels and distribution beyond the traditional branch. It launched Internet banking and mobile phone banking in the local language, thus reducing the need for customers from less developed areas to travel long distances to make simple transactions.
HNB Managing Director Rajendra Theagarajah said: "The HNB team is delighted to receive this truly great accolade from one of the world's most respected financial journals. It is not only just an opinion survey, but also a combination of stringent evaluation and market survey. The evaluation process uses a 10 dimensional scorecard with some 41 indicators while the survey incorporates the perception from an A.C. Nielsen survey, which is further screened by an eminent international panel.
We are particularly proud of this achievement as this is the first time in the 7 year history of this awards program, that a locally incorporated bank from Sri Lanka has stood out and been recognised as the "Best Retail Bank in Sri Lanka".
"This year over 150 banks and financial institutions in 23 countries across the Asian region were evaluated as part of the Excellence in Retail Financial Services programme," said Phillip Strause, chairman of the Excellence in Retail Financial Services programme and an International Resource Director for The Asian Banker.
Strause, who has close to 40 years' experience working with commercial banks, investment banks, brokerage firms, insurance companies and other specialised financial institutions, also added: "The Asian Banker Excellence programme was instituted in 2001 on the premise that an outstanding player in the retail financial services industry should build business franchises that are sustainable, competitive and profitable over a period of time."-PR
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