ComBank wins double at 2019 Sri Lanka Best Employer Brand Awards

Commercial Bank Senior Manager (Marketing) Aparna Jagoda accepts the ‘Brand Excellence in Banking’ award at the Sri Lanka Best Employer Brand Awards ceremony

• Receives awards for ‘Brand Excellence in Banking’ and ‘Best Corporate Social Responsibility Practices’ 

The Commercial Bank of Ceylon won two awards for ‘Brand Excellence in Banking’ and Best Corporate Social Responsibility Practices’ at the 2019 Sri Lanka Best Employer Brand Awards, presented recently by the World Human Resource Development (HRD) Congress. 

The awards recognised Commercial Bank for its strong brand presence within and outside Sri Lanka, and spotlighted the Bank’s notable contributions to the country through continuous and impactful Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) work.

One of the most active and vibrant brands in Sri Lanka, Commercial Bank said its brand-building efforts maintain a healthy balance between corporate and product communications and ground level customer engagement events. In addition to traditional media, the Bank is very active in social and digital media and customer engagement events, at national and regional level. The Bank also has a large number of Sri Lankan migrant customers overseas and continuously engages with them through various events and consumer promotions. 

The Brand Excellence award was also influenced by the fact that while being the largest private bank in the country and accounting for the highest market capitalisation among all the listed banks in Sri Lanka, Commercial Bank is a major contributor to the national economy. 

The Bank’s consecutive nine years of ranking among the ‘Top 1000 Banks of the World’ by The Banker, UK as well as its status as the most-awarded bank in Sri Lanka also contributed to Commercial Bank winning  the prestigious ‘Brand Excellence’ award.  

Further supporting Commercial Bank’s eligibility were factors such as its highly competitive pricing and products range, its positioning as the Sri Lankan bank with the largest footprint in Asia with operations in Bangladesh, the Maldives, Myanmar and Italy as well as its compelling brand performance and financial performance.  The ‘Best Corporate Social Responsibility Practices’ award was presented to Commercial Bank for the work it has done through the Bank’s CSR Trust, an independent body specifically established to ensure meaningfulness and effectiveness of CSR initiatives undertaken under four main pillars: Education, Community, Healthcare, and Culture and Heritage. 

Impactful educational projects such as the donation of IT Labs, support to the Smart Schools project, promoting Math Labs and support to the efforts of the Department of Technical Education and Training (DTET) to create awareness about vocational training among GCE Advanced Level students as well as Commercial Bank’s noteworthy donations of critical care equipment and infrastructure to over 65 government hospitals to uplift the healthcare facilities of the country were among the factors that contributed to the Bank receiving this award. 

Community-based activities such as the provision of clean drinking water to the Ginnoruwa area, culture and heritage preservation efforts like rebuilding of steps leading to Sri Pada; the Bank’s environmental initiative to replant the damaged corals at Hikkaduwa; as well its comprehensive sustainability agenda through lending for eco-friendly initiatives, facilitating Green banking through digitalisation and the conversion of branches to renewal energy were among the other considerations for the CSR award. 

The only Sri Lankan Bank to be ranked among the world’s top 1000 banks for nine years consecutively, Commercial Bank operates a network of 266 branches and 846 ATMs in Sri Lanka. The Bank won more than 40 international and local awards in 2018 and has received 18 international accolades in the first half of 2019.

Commercial Bank’s overseas operations encompass Bangladesh, where the Bank operates 19 outlets; Myanmar, where it has a Representative Office in Yangon and a Microfinance company in Nay PyiTaw; and the Maldives, where the Bank has a fully-fledged Tier I Bank with a majority stake.