Commercial Bank ATMs dispense Rs. 3 b over three days

An all-time record of nearly Rs 1.2 billion was withdrawn from Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) of the Commercial Bank of Ceylon on Friday, 8 April 2011, as festive shopping reached a peak in Sri Lanka.

The bank, whose 413 terminal ATM network is the single largest cash dispensing facility in the country, said the figure for the day of Rs. 1,193.7 million surpassed the previous record of Rs. 902 million set on 7 April 2010 by more than 32 per cent.

Commercial Bank’s ATMs processed a colossal 246,000 transactions on this day, as compared to 215,000 transactions on the day the previous record was set, demonstrating the robustness of the ATMs and the bank’s ability to replenish them speedily, as cash is withdrawn.

Over the weekend that followed (9 and 10 April), the network processed an additional 375,000 transactions and dispensed a further Rs. 1.857 billion, achieving a three-day cash dispensing record of Rs. 3 billion, the Bank said.

“This is a classic example of the Commercial Bank’s involvement in the lives of the masses of this country, and of the key role played by our ATMs,” said Sanath Bandaranayake, Deputy General Manager – Operations of Commercial Bank. “These figures also emphatically illustrate the capacity and reliability of our ATM network.”

He pointed out that the figures for the three-day period indicate an average of more than 1,500 withdrawals per machine and an average frequency of one cash dispensation every 2.8 minutes.  On 8 April, when the single-day record was achieved, the average number of withdrawals reached 595 per terminal, at an average of nearly 25 transactions per hour.

Holders of Commercial Bank’s standard ATM cum Shopping Debit Cards can withdraw up to Rs. 40,000 from the bank’s ATMs per withdrawal. The bank also offers customers the option of setting their own ATM withdrawal limits up to a maximum of Rs. 100,000 a day, and a point-of-sale limit of up to Rs. 500,000, provided funds are available in their accounts.

Established in 1969, Commercial Bank owns a network of 198 computer-linked branches and supermarket banking counters in Sri Lanka. The bank has been adjudged Sri Lanka’s ‘Bank of the Year’ seven times by ‘The Banker,’ ‘Best Bank in Sri Lanka’ for 13 consecutive years by ‘Global Finance’ Magazine, and the Best Bank in Sri Lanka twice by FinanceAsia. It has also been rated ‘Best Local Trade Bank’ in Sri Lanka by the UK based ‘Trade Finance’ magazine.