Commercial Bank increases ‘Arunalu’ rewards for year 5 scholarship winners
Tuesday, 20 August 2013 00:00
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Announces new scholarships and higher cash prizes for high achievers at national, district and school levels
The Commercial Bank of Ceylon has announced a substantial increase in the value of the rewards the bank presents annually to high achievers among its ‘Arunalu’ Minors’ Savings Account holders at the year five scholarship examination, with monthly rewards up to age 18 years for national winners.
Commencing this year, the bank will present scholarships of up to Rs. 382,500 to the three students who secure the highest marks countrywide at this examination and present a cash prize of Rs. 50,000 to students placed first in their respective districts, if they are ‘Arunalu’ account holders.
Additionally, ‘Arunalu’ account holders who are placed first, second and third in their respective schools will receive cash prizes of Rs. 10,000, Rs. 7,500 and Rs. 5,000 each, in a continuation of the previous rewards scheme operated by Sri Lanka’s largest private bank.
“Since the introduction of a prize scheme to the Arunalu Minors’ Savings Account in 1998, Commercial Bank has rewarded several thousand students for academic achievement,” said Hasrath Munasinghe, the bank’s Deputy General Manager – Marketing. “With the sustained popularity and growth of the scheme, we felt it was appropriate to revamp the entire rewards structure.”
Under the new scheme announced by the bank, an Arunalu account holder who is placed first in the island at the year five scholarship examination will be eligible to receive up to Rs. 170,000 in monthly instalments of Rs. 2,000 each. The students placed second and third in the island will receive up to Rs. 127,500 and Rs. 85,000 respectively in monthly instalments of Rs. 1,500 and Rs. 1,000, if they are Arunalu account holders.
To be eligible for these scholarships as well as the cash prizes offered to district and school level winners, a minimum balance of Rs. 5,000 should be maintained in the students’ Arunalu accounts on the date of the year five examination, the bank said.
Prior to the restructuring of the rewards scheme, Commercial Bank presented cash rewards of Rs. 10,000, Rs. 7,500 and Rs. 5,000 respectively to Arunalu account holders who achieved the highest, second highest and third highest marks in their schools at this examination and also undertook to double the Arunalu account balance up to a maximum of Rs. 50,000, of any eligible account holder who achieved the highest marks in his or her district.
Over the past eight years, Commercial Bank has paid out Rs. 28 million in prizes to over 2,500 Arunalu Minors’ Savings Account holders who met the eligibility requirements.
The 2013 year five scholarship examination is scheduled to be conducted on Sunday, 25 August, according to the Department of Examinations.
An Arunalu Minors’ Savings account can be opened at any of Commercial Bank’s 232 branches or service points with a minimum deposit of Rs. 100.
The Arunalu account can be converted to one of the bank’s many other savings accounts when the child reaches the age of 18, making the account holder eligible for a Commercial Bank debit or credit card, as well as to apply for personal loans for educational purposes.
“The objective of the prize scheme is to reward academic excellence while encouraging the savings habit,” Munasinghe added.
“We have seen thousands of children inspired by being recognised by the Arunalu scheme and many of them continue to be high achievers in school and outside.”
The largest private bank in Sri Lanka and the only Sri Lankan bank to be listed three years consecutively in the world’s top 1,000 banks, Commercial Bank operates a network of 232 branches and service points and a network of 570 ATMs in Sri Lanka.
The bank has been adjudged the best bank in Sri Lanka by Global Finance magazine for a record 15 consecutive years and has also won multiple awards over the years as the country’s best bank from ‘The Banker’, ‘FinanceAsia’, ‘Euromoney’ and ‘Trade Finance’ magazines.
