Bank of Ceylon shines again as country’s No. 1 brand at Interbrand Best Sri Lankan Brands 2017

The Brand ‘BOC’ was recognised as the No. 1 Sri Lankan Brand by the very first ‘Interbrand Best Sri Lankan Brands’ convention conducted at the Hilton Colombo on 11 December. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe graced the occasion as the Chief Guest for this very first launch of this event pioneered by Interbrand, the world’s largest and most influential global brand consulting agency, in partnership with the Daily FT newspaper. 

Currently Interbrand is a New York based global brand consulting agency with twenty one offices in 17 countries. It is highly recognised for its globally influential “Breakthrough Brands” and “Best Global Brands” reports and Webby Award-winning “brand channel”. Sri Lanka being in the Interbrand catalogue of countries is important as a chance for local companies to be on the global stage. The Prime Minister stated that it is impressive to see state banks performing well among Sri Lankan brands. 

Interbrand’s Global Director – Brand Valuation Mike Rocha, Strategy Director - Nation Branding Guido Van Garderen, Managing Director Interbrand India Ashish Mishra, Sri Lankan partner for Interbrand Michel Nugawela and several other officials from Interbrand were also present at this occasion. The Chairman, President’s Counsel Ronald C. Perera and D.M. Gunasekera, General Manager of Bank of Ceylon received the award on behalf of the bank.

Interbrand has calculated the Bank of Ceylon’s brand value as Rs. 31.12 billion based on well-stipulated criteria for brand valuation. The financial performance of the brand, its role in influencing the customer’s choice and the strength of the brand to secure the company’s financial position and many other key elements are taken into account when calculating the brand value. Many indigenous well established brands operating in the country have been taken into account. 

The Bank of Ceylon’s “BOC” has been “The No.1 Brand” in the country for the last nine years as determined by Brand Finance Lanka too. With the pledge to commit as “Banker’s to the Nation” since its inception the Bank has been evolving with the needs and lifestyle of the Sri Lankan community to provide the financial assistance they require. The first and the only Sri Lankan single business entity to earn PBT of Rs. 25.3 billion for 2015 and PBT 31.2 billion for 2016, BOC challenged its own record continuing its quest to strive for exceptional performance in all areas of banking. Two very significant achievements of BOC in the recent past were achieving over Rs. one trillion in deposits in 2015 and Rs. one trillion in loans and advances in 2016. The bank’s asset value now exceeds over Rs. 1.8 trillion and is the highest asset base owned by a single business entity in the country. Having a very strong balance sheet and the trust and confidence that had been built among public for the last 78 years paved the way to achieve this award. Receiving an award in the year in which the award is inaugurated is in itself quite an achievement. 

“The bank’s approach to cater to the very dynamic banking needs of its customer base has been the key factor behind BOC brand’s 78 year long success. Since its inception in 1939, Bank of Ceylon’s motive was the same as promoting social and economic development of the country and its people. As such the bank has been strategically adapting its products and services portfolio with the understanding of future social and economic trends that requires tailor-made banking and financial services,” stated the Chairman, President’s Counsel Ronald C. Perera.

BOC has earned the trust of Sri Lankans and proudly caters to over 12 million customers today. BOC offers the flexibility and convenience of a whole gamut of banking services under one roof for everyone from newborn to senior citizen and Micro entrepreneur to corporate business. In order to cater to this geographically diverse customer base, the bank has 630 branch network that is spread covering every nook and corner and owns the largest ATM/CDM network in Sri Lanka with over 900 machines serving customers 24 hours 365 days. BOC was the first Sri Lankan bank to have marked its presence overseas with the opening of “BOC London” in 1949 at the epicentre of international banking at that time. Later BOC spread its foreign branch network to Chennai, Male and Seychelles. Apart from its own foreign branch network BOC maintains foreign correspondent banking network with over 860 foreign banks and exchange houses.

D.M. Gunasekera, the General Manager Bank of Ceylon stated that, “BOC’s digital transformation completely changed the bank’s internal processes along with its customer interface and infused synergy to the whole Sri Lankan banking system. Along with the benefits of digital transformation BOC was able to embark on a sustainable growth together with the community. We have many “Green Banking” programme which together with digital technology infused transformation have introduced green processes, product and services and also strategies and green infrastructure that includes IT and physical infrastructure.”

With the time tested vision as “Banker’s to the Nation”, Brand BOC has delivered the best result for its true stakeholders, citizens and the Government of Sri Lanka to reach the pinnacle.