Renuka Jayasinghe - Deputy General Manager
(
Retail Banking and Co-op & Development), People’s Bank.
|
People’s
Bank recently commemorated World Thrift Day, a hallmark day which was created
at the first international banking conference that was held in Italy in 1924.
World Thrift Day highlights the importance of saving and recognizes the
positive correlation between good saving habits and an enhanced quality of
life.
Healthy
saving habits are known to help individuals in times of sickness, natural
disaster, in their efforts to continue their higher education, buy a home or
start a new business venture. Additionally, the economic status of a country
can also be measured based on the personal savings of the population. If the
per capita saving of a country is large, it is usually considered a developing
country and therefore savings are generally considered a vital component of
economic development. Since its
inception in 1961, People’s Bank has been dedicated to understanding the pulse
of the people of Sri Lanka and has served their diverse financial needs for
decades. Through an innovative range of well-established products, People’s
Bank has encouraged people across Sri Lanka to embrace the habit of saving.
In its efforts to encourage the youth of the
country to develop sound saving habits, People’s Bank recently introduced Sri
Lanka’s first ever eco-friendly savings product in Green Banking Concept – the ‘Young Executive Sarver’ account (also
commonly known as ‘YES’). Over the next five years, People’s Bank will
gradually transition into becoming the most digitalized and technologically
advanced bank in the country, as part of its long-term strategy to position
itself as Sri Lanka’s undisputed market leader in the
financial services industry.
The ‘YES’ account is the bank’s first green
banking solution and has already encouraged a large percentage of Sri Lankan
youth, to save responsibly and enjoy the benefits and convenience of paperless
banking. This unique account aligns well with the bank’s vision to reduce its
carbon footprint, preserve the environment, use energy more efficiently and
minimize the use of paper in order to secure a more sustainable future. Under
the theme ‘Go Green with YES’, the account delivers banking services
electronically via e-statements, mobile and internet banking and paperless
communications.
Commenting on the importance of savings, Renuka
Jayasinghe - Deputy General Manager (Retail Banking and Co-op &
Development), People’s Bank stated, “People’s Bank has always provided people
across the island with savings accounts that are easy to use and enhanced by
various benefits. By transitioning into a more digitalized bank, we are well
poised to usher in an era of modern banking excellence. Green banking solutions
such as the ‘YES’ account encourage one of the country’s most important
demographics – the youth, to save in the most efficient and
environmentally-friendly manner possible, so they can build successful careers
and lives. Instilling positive saving habits in the youth, will reap multiple
rewards for our society and the country, as it is the youth who will grow up to
become our next generation of leaders. Our other products also encourage saving
amongst children, parents, professionals, small and large scale business owners
and many other demographics. World Thrift Day is dedicated to the promotion of
savings around the world and aligns well with our ongoing efforts to encourage
all segments of society to save so they can enjoy peace of mind and a better
quality of life.”
People’s Bank
has also pioneered many other products including the ‘Isuru Udana’ account
which can be opened by a parent to celebrate the birth of their child. The
account comes with various gift and savings certificates for milestones
in the child’s life such as the first meal, birthdays and a reading ceremony.
These savings certificates can also be used to open a new ‘Isuru Udana’ account
or deposit in an existing ‘Isuru Udana’ account. Several ‘Sisu Udana’ centres
are located across Sri Lanka in schools and encourage children to save further
and make responsible spending choices. For this year’s World Children’s Day,
children who opened ‘Isuru Udana’ and ‘Sisu Udana’ accounts in October, were
awarded special gifts. People’s Bank also awards Grade 5 scholars special gifts
and recognizes students in each district who have achieved island-wide best
results.
The ‘People’s
Relax’ account helps people save towards a pension that can be used later, and gives
the young working class individual the chance to save at the start of their
careers and reap the rewards of their hard work when they are ready. People’s
Bank was also the first bank to dedicate a special savings account for women,
the ‘Vanitha Wasana’ account offers women across the country attractive
benefits by way of loan facilities for many purposes and the ‘Senior Citizens’
account offers the elderly attractive interest rates to help them maximize
their savings.
Customers of
People’s Bank also enjoy added benefits through the bank’s easy interest scheme
loan facilities. The ‘People’s Wisdom Loan’ provides funding for higher
education and the ‘People’s Auto Loan’ is designed to help customers purchase a
vehicle with ease. The bank has also supported entrepreneurs and multiple
industries ranging from agriculture, to development, microfinance, consumer and
trade finance, marine finance, real-estate, housing, tourism and
hospitality.
Since its
inception 54 years ago, People’s Bank has opened its doors to customers across
the country, from all walks of life, providing them with banking services that
meet their unique needs and uplift their lives. People’s Bank currently serves over 16 million
customers through 737 branches and its connected network of 3000 ATMs is linked
to the Lanka Pay gateway.The bank also continues to play a
important role in encouraging various industries including agriculture, real
estate, commercial development, small and medium enterprises and exports and this
in turn has helped support communities across the country. People’s Bank has
always been a driver of financial inclusivity and was also the first bank in
the country to commence bilingual operations in Sinhala and Tamil, and
thereafter also introduced Sri Lanka’s first trilingual cheque book. The bank
recently introduced its 5-year strategic plan for growth - ‘SP 16/20’ to
achieve its growth targets, and will work closely with the Government of Sri
Lanka to build a thriving economy and dynamic, modern nation.
Tags
Sri Lanka Business