HNB sponsors Royal College Rowing Club for 2018/19

From left: Royal College Deputy Principal Krishantha De Silva, Royal College Union Secretary Athula Munasinghe, Rowing Advisory Committee President Waruna De Silva, Royal College Principal B.A.Abeyrathna, HNB Chief Operating Officer Dilshan Rodrigo, Teacher-in-Charge of Rowing Inoka Wijendra and HNB Head of  Business Development Supun Dias

Sri Lanka’s premier private commercial bank, HNB PLC came forward recently to sponsor the Rowing Club of Royal College Colombo for the year 2018/19, through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).

The signing of the agreement between HNB, Royal College and Royal College Union took place at the Royal College Colombo, paving a path for a new era of collaboration between the bank and school to endorse paperless banking through HNB’s innovative banking solutions. The agreement was signed by Royal College Principal B. A. Abeyrathna, Royal College Union Secretary Athula Munasinghe and HNB Chief Operating Officer Dilshan Rodrigo.

HNB’s collaboration with Royal College Colombo counts for more than two decades when HNB opened Royal College Student Savings Unit in 1994 - the very first student savings unit in Sri Lanka. Since then the bank has set up 170 school banking units across Sri Lanka, and has trained and deployed over 1,000 students in the capacity of student managers and interns. The bank fully refurbished and reopened the Student Savings Unit of the school recently to facilitate HNB’s latest technological advancements and banking innovations. Over the years, HNB has been the key banking partner of a number of prominent events organised by Royal College.

While sponsoring the Rowing Club for the period of 2018/2019, the new agreement will benefit Royal College immensely with a plethora of banking services from HNB including Smart Pay cards for students, deployment of Point of Sales (PoS) machines, opening up new student savings accounts, and setting up an Internet Payment Gateway on Royal College’s official website to collect funds from donors and well-wishers for various school events. The exclusive partnership will also include benefits for academic staff members, where HNB will facilitate special salary accounts with high interest rates for teachers, as well as for past pupils by offering Royal College affinity credit cards. In subsequent, Royal College will recognise HNB as their preferred banking partner. The school will subsequently recommend student managers and old boys to be deployed at their student saving unit and strengthen its operations.

Speaking at the agreement signing, HNB Chief Operating Officer Dilshan Rodrigo said: “It is a privilege for HNB to partner with one of the most prominent boys’ schools of the country and strengthen their Rowing Club by becoming a sponsor. As Sri Lanka’s most technologically innovative bank, HNB looks to bring a range of services through our MoU to add greater value for students, teachers and past pupils of Royal College in terms of seamless banking experience and promote paperless banking among school’s key stakeholders.”

Rodrigo further said: “Through our students saving units, HNB aims to inculcate the habit of saving and promote financial discipline at a very young age. While this new agreement strengthens our long-standing partnership, it will help us to establish a robust cashless eco system within the school – from the canteen to the hostel to the Merchandise Shop.”

Royal College Principal B. A. Abeyrathna said: “The partnership we have had with HNB over the last two decades has brought Royal College immense value. While helping to strengthen school’s Rowing Club, our newest collaboration will bring a new face of digital banking for every stakeholder across the board at Royal College Colombo – from students to teachers to past pupils.”