HNB adjudged Best Retail Bank in Sri Lanka for 10th time by Asian Banker

Hatton National Bank PLC (HNB) was awarded as the ‘Best Retail Bank in Sri Lanka’ at the ‘Asian Banker’s International Excellence in Retail Financial Services 2018 awards ceremony, held in conjunction with the ‘Asian Banker Digital Finance Convention’ at the Westin Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on 22 March. The achievement marked the 10th time that HNB has been bestowed with the award which is widely held as the most coveted benchmark of Retail Banking Excellence.

HNB Deputy General Manager – Retail Banking Sanjay Wijemanne with the Award while also seen are (from left): The Asian Banker Managing Editor Foo Boon Ping, Niluka Amarasinghe (HNB), Vinodh Fernando (HNB), Dilanka De Silva (HNB), Mangala Wickramasinghe (HNB), Varun Sabhlok, member of The Asian Banker Advisory Board and Vice Chairman of the Awards Programme and Chris Skinner, member of The Excellence in Retail Financial Services Programme

The award was presented to HNB in recognition of its outstanding achievements across three key areas, namely: the bank’s ability to maintain profitability, relentless pursuit of operational excellence through continuous improvement in processes; and its groundbreaking digital banking innovations and partnerships.

HNB Managing Director/CEO Jonathan Alles stated, “During the last year, we have been able to make strong and bold steps forward in advancement of our strategic vision 2020. Having churned out numerous market innovations, our bank is rapidly redefining the possibilities of truly digital-led value creation for customers. Our 10th award for Best Retail Bank in Sri Lanka by the Asian Banker stands as resounding vindication of our continuing efforts to introduce a new paradigm in technology-led banking moving forward.”

HNB’s most recent victory at the Asian Banker awards followed a stringent three-month evaluation process by an imminent panel of respected global bankers, consultants and academics who carefully analysed every aspect of the business from Customer Experience to Value of Retail Franchise, Consistency of Financial Performance, Digital Innovation, and Risk Management.

The award was received by HNB DGM Retail Banking Sanjay Wijemanne and his retail banking team on behalf of the bank at a gala ceremony attended by over 200 senior executives from award winning retail financial service institutions from 25 countries across the Asia Pacific, the Middle East and Africa.

Hatton National Bank is a premier private sector commercial bank with one of the largest branch networks among private sector commercial banks. The total assets of the HNB Group surpassed Rs 1 Trillion as at the end of 2017, a year in which HNB was the recipient of the ‘Bank of the year 2017’ award by the acclaimed Banker Magazine UK which also ranked it among the top 1000 banks in the World.

The bank is also the highest ranked bank in Sri Lanka by the LMD and Business Today magazines. HNB became the first Sri Lankan bank to obtain an international credit rating and was assigned a foreign currency issuer rating of B1 on par with the sovereign rating by Moody’s Investors Service, while it has a national long term rating of AA- (lka) by Fitch Ratings (Lanka) Ltd.