The Commercial Bank of Ceylon has been declared the ‘Best SME Bank’ in Sri Lanka and the ‘Best Foreign Bank’ in Bangladesh in 2021 by the UK-based Global Business Outlook (GBO) magazine which recognises and rewards excellence in businesses around the world, across industries.
This is the fourth occasion that Commercial Bank has been recognised with awards by Global Business Outlook magazine. In 2020 the Bank was adjudged the ‘Best Commercial Bank’ in Sri Lanka and the ‘Best Foreign Bank’ in Bangladesh by the magazine.
The ‘Best SME Bank’ award was presented to the Commercial Bank for its efforts in recognising the needs of the hour of small and medium enterprises in the country.
Meanwhile, the ‘Best Foreign Bank’ award presented to Commercial Bank Bangladesh recognises growth achieved in new accounts, deposits and advances, services offered to corporate and personal banking customers, new products and the growth of the Bank’s Online Banking services in that market.
Despite stiff competition among international and large local banks, CBC Bangladesh has recorded a consistent growth in business especially by catering to multinationals and large local corporates by offering better services and commitment.
Commercial Bank Managing Director S. Renganathan said: “It is particularly pleasing to be recognised for our support to SMEs, especially during these pandemic-linked economic conditions which are very tough to navigate. Commercial Bank has consistently proved that it is with them in good times as well as bad.
We are also elated to once again be adjudged the best foreign bank in Bangladesh, which is a very competitive market.”
In terms of its commitment to the SME sector in Sri Lanka in 2020, Commercial Bank supported SMEs affected by the global pandemic with among others, the disbursement of a substantial amount in COVID-19 support loans by the close of the year under multiple relief schemes to provide working capital loans to affected businesses.
The Bank completed its SME Banking Transformation operation in 2020 which included the launch of a Centralised Credit Processing Unit that paved the way for Commercial Bank to become the largest lender to the SME sector among private sector banks in 2020 via the ‘Saubagya’ scheme. The Bank also launched ‘Arunella’ – a Financial Support Scheme that included 12 initiatives designed to assist and provide concessions to SMEs.
Commercial Bank is one of the largest lenders to the SME sector in Sri Lanka. Commercial Bank also continued with its ‘Bank on Wheels’ initiative to encourage banking habits in remote areas and to provide convenience to existing customers.
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