BOC confirms its place as Sri Lanka’s No. 1 Brand

Bank of Ceylon was bestowed the ‘No. 1 Brand’ position among all the brands in Sri Lanka for the eighth consecutive year by Brand Finance Lanka through an independent and stringent analysis. 

Brand Finance Lanka is partnered with Brand Finance UK with its global network spread in 17 countries. 

The brand BOC now boasts an overwhelming Rs. 41 billion, a growth of 8.78% in 2016 compared to Rs. 38 billion in 2015.

Bank of Ceylon Chairman President’s Counsel Ronald C. Perera said: “Our prime objective at all times has been to create and enhance value for all our stakeholders that includes all Sri Lankans. As the country moves on in the progressive path for a more refined and long-term economic and social development, the Bank of Ceylon, the leader in the banking industry will take up the responsibility to assist this endeavour, financially connecting every other sector in the country to walk towards the same goal. Therefore it is such an honour to be valued as the No. 1 Brand in the country for the eighth successive year as recognition of our tireless effort.” 

With the confidence and trust the Bank of Ceylon has built in the Sri Lankan banking and finance industry over 76 years as the leader it has been able to set many key benchmarks that have elevated the Sri Lankan banking industry. Since its inception in year 1939 the Bank of Ceylon has been at the epicentre of enriching the lives of Sri Lankans through banking services. 

As of today BOC’s local market reach consists of 626 braches, 15 SME centres and 605 ATMs and Cash Deposit Machines (CDMs) that count for over 1,200 customer touch points which are spread throughout the country and currently serve customers ranging from individuals to corporates from all walks of life. The bank maintains over 12 million accounts which amount to more than half of the population in the country.

“Developing the brand identity in the international banking and finance arena is also in focus as it is one of the needs for the country. In order to ensure our success we have adapted visionary thoughts of the digital world that could also transform the country’s banking landscapes,” the Chairman added.

BOC is the Sri Lankan bank which pioneered the penetration of the international market. BOC has branches in Chennai, Male and Seychelles and a banking subsidiary in London which was established in 1949. It also has its representatives in many of the countries, especially those in which many Sri Lankans work as expatriates. BOC has also built a foreign correspondent banking network with over 860 foreign banks and exchange houses.

Amidst the digital revolution that is taking place around the world, BOC made an agile and inclusive response by becoming more client-centric and tech-savvy. It made its first entrance into the electronic banking era with Sri Lanka’s first-ever Visa International Credit Card in 1989. With the expansion in banking services, it enriched its network by connecting all branches and all other customer touch points through a single system at the end of 2004, enabling customers to transact through any branch seamlessly. 

BOC began its transformation process in 2014 to deliver best-in-class banking service to its customers. Under this project the bank has established state-of-the-art branches to extend the ‘world class banking service’ experience to its customers. 

BOC introduced the ‘Smart Zone’ concept in selected branches across the country, enabling customers to have 24-hour access to banking services. These Smart Zones consists of Cash Deposit machines (CDMs) that enables the customer to deposit, transfer or withdraw money at any time.

Addressing the social need of sophisticated and secure digital channels for banking, BOC upgraded its online banking facility along with its newest feature ‘SmartGen’ where the traditional passbook has been replaced through emails and SMS alerts, while also enabling the customer to walk into any BOC branch without producing identification to transact as the customer image has been stored in the centralised system at the time of opening the account. Being more customer-centric BOC opened its Facebook, Twitter, You Tube and LinkedIn accounts at the end of 2015, enabling its customers to approach and experience the bank more closely.

“Achieving this prestigious rank clearly indicates that we are heading in the right direction and it is clearly an achievement of all those who associate with the brand BOC, which of course includes all Sri Lankans. I wish to thank our beloved customers, our dedicated staff and all stakeholders for the strength and trust they have extended to us. We have always lead the way to address market changes and continuously improved ourselves as we have understood that we have to steer the bank to go beyond mere multichannel strategies to approach today’s customer and to deliver the service they expect. Therefore we develop more agile operating models that are customer-centric and provide profound solutions for all our customers coming from all walks of life and maintain ourselves as the No. 1 Brand in the country to provide services as the No. 1 banking solutions provider for the Sri Lankan community,” stated General Manager D.M. Gunasekera.

The Bank of Ceylon has passed many key milestones and has been a key trendsetter in the industry. In 2012 it became the first Sri Lankan business entity to earn over Rs. 1 trillion asset base; in 2014 it earned a record-breaking PBT of Rs. 20.3 billion, which was the highest profit earned by a single Sri Lankan business entity, only to better its own record in 2015 with Rs. 25.3 billion PBT. The bank hit its second trillion target by earning over Rs. 1 trillion deposits recently, becoming the only Sri Lankan bank to achieve this target and aspires to achieve its third trillion target in near future. These significant figures simply speak for themselves of the trust that the BOC has placed in the hearts and minds of the people in this country. 

Bank of Ceylon has always been on a steadfast track to be exemplary in the Sri Lankan banking industry and it has been recognised by many international and local awards and recognitions. The National Business Excellence Awards (NBEA) organised by National Chamber of Commerce recognised BOC as the Overall Gold Winner of the event along with five other category winner titles in 2015. The very same year BOC was named as the ‘Strongest Bank in the Country’ by Asian Banker by an independent research carried out by the region’s most authoritative provider of business intelligence. 

BOC has placed itself among the ‘Top 1000’ banks in the world with the country rank 1.  The Bank claimed its award as the only Sri Lankan brand recognised as one of the ‘Asia’s Best Brands’ in 2013 by the Chief Marketing Officers’ Council (CMO Council) based in Mumbai, India. The commitment and dedication BOC has shown towards its country and people over 76 years have truly made it the ‘Bankers to the Nation’.