In a bid to facilitate post Covid revival, DFCC Bank has dispersed over Rs. 1.5 billion loans to help Covid affected businesses and also to exporters to get them back to business DFCC Bank CEO Lakshman Silva said. These loans were on a single digit interest rate.
He also said that in addition the bank has facilitated transactions to the tune of over Rs. 20 billion since last February.
DFCC Bank recently launched many initiatives to cushion the negative impact of the Covid to the Tourism and SME and other related sectors. In addition ‘DFCC Sahanaya’ concessionary loan scheme was introduced aimed at providing relief to export-related businesses.
The ‘DFCC Sahanaya’ scheme amounting to Rs 2 billion was extended to export-related, export-oriented customers to provide immediate relief and encourage them to avail market opportunities of the future.
“The health and safety of our valued customers is of utmost importance to us. We hope that the aforementioned concessions would be of extreme benefit to them during this difficult period for the whole country,” he said.
He said that the ill effects of the Easter Sunday blasts and the Covid Pandemic will have negative impacts for the banking industry and will face additional pressure if the customers do not start paying their loans from September.
Notwithstanding the turbulent environment in the country, the Bank recorded a Profit After Tax (PAT) of Rs 2,828 million for the year ended December 31, 2019.
Confirming DFCC Bank’s role as a leading player in the banking industry, Fitch Ratings re-affirmed the Bank’s rating as AA-(lka). DFCC was also ranked 18 among Business Today’s Top 30 Corporates in Sri Lanka for 2018/2019.
DFCC Bank was honored internationally by HSBC USA in recognition of “US Dollar Straight through Processing Excellence Award 2018” for the Bank’s contribution based on strict selection criteria, evaluating many of their correspondent banks.
Following are excerpts of the Q&A session conducted with DFCC Bank CEO Lakshman Silva.
Q: How will Easter Sunday and Covid reflect on your bottom line for the next financial year?
A: After the twin tragedies, the country’s business are now limping back to ‘new normal’ and they need financial assistance. However the banks too cannot survive maintaining an increasing portfolio or Non Performing Loans and hence we expect some sectors to ‘pay back’.
However we don’t see the tourism sector to recover soon due to various travel restrictions and we may have to extend their moratoria further. As a whole, I believe the local banking and financial sector is resilient and have faced similar issues earlier and believe that we are well positioned to emerge stronger than ever after this crisis.
Q: Do you see new pressure on the banking environment due to the Covid Pandemic and debt moratoria that is offered?
A: Today leading rates in most schemes have come to a single digit. In addition as a responsible bank we have extended debt moratoria further and provided low-interest loans. These measures would certainly be challenging in the long run.
Q: What challenges and opportunities do you see for the next year?
A: The Bank has rightly been investing in digitalization for some time and this has proved to be a step taken in the right tie in the right direction. Due to this, during the lockdown, many customers came online since we had a readymade platform built for them.
We will push digitalization even further as we see prospects in this area. DFCC Virtual Wallet, credit cards scheme with interactive eStatements, DFCC iConnect and Premier Go has been well accepted by our customers and partners alike.
We also invested towards the expansion of Lanka Money Transfer (LMT) service to serve Sri Lankans in multiple countries.
In yet another step towards improving customer convenience with the aim to be the ‘Bank for Everyone’, DFCC Bank launched DFCC Chatz, an interactive, multi-channel chatbot to assist customers with any inquiries that can be fulfilled in a seamless manner.
One of the first chatbots in the country that will serve on multiple channels such as DFCC Bank website, Facebook, Messenger and Viber, DFCC Chatz has been developed using wit.ai, one of the most advanced artificial intelligence tools with natural language capabilities. DFCC joined with FineTech Sri Lanka to launch Google G-suit Enterprises by being the first in the banking industry in Sri Lanka.
We see opportunities in cost reductions and increasing customer engagement by introducing these products and services and shifting more towards digital.
DFCC’s vision for 2025 is to become the most customer-centric and digitally enabled bank in the country.
Q: How and what measures were taken to bring the customers closer to the bank during lockdown?
A: The Covid Pandemic crippled many sectors globally and locally but the banking sector which came under essential services carried on; taking new health and security precautions spelled out by health and security authorities. We took additional measures to safeguard our staff that went out of their way in executing their duties despite curfew and lockdown to ensure a continuous service for customers. From our staff strength of 2,000 plus we managed our operations utilizing 25% of them.
Some prudent investments made earlier on digital transformation and ATM/CDM expansion and our mobile units also ensured an uninterrupted service to our customers who were also facing numerous challenges during this time. DFCC Bank launched “Bank on Wheels Service” recently to visit customer’s doorstep to provide cash withdrawals and check bank balance services without stepping to a branch and encouraging them to stay at home.
Q: What measures are you taking to increase shareholder value?
A: DFCC Bank hosted its 64th Annual General Meeting (AGM) and Extra Ordinary General Meeting (EGM) on June 24, 2020, seamlessly on a virtual platform aligned to Bank’s goal of being the most customer centric and digitally enabled bank by 2025 at the DFCC Bank Head Office Auditorium with shareholders connecting virtually through Zoom.
The virtual AGM and EGM facilitated shareholders to interact with the proceedings and vote remotely online which delivered instant results with secure access and tracked delivery whilst maintaining complete confidentiality.
The shareholder dividends were delivered to them soon after the AGM. The bank has maintained a very good dividend payout ratio over the years and would continue to do so. During the Pandemic lock down we also extended a special loan scheme for Senior Citizens and this was highly appreciated.
Q: How important is your Sustainability Division to the Bank’s progress?
A: DFCC Bank has always been on the forefront of promoting a green environment through its sustainability initiatives, as well as through its operations and credit policy. Therefore, minimizing adverse impacts on the environment remains a key area of focus of the Bank. As a provider of financial services, the Bank realizes that its consequences on the environment are mostly indirect.
DFCC Bank set up a separate Sustainability Division in 2016, to specifically focus on such efforts as a responsible corporate citizen, as well as to implement the Social and Environmental Management System (SEMS) with regard to project loans provided by the Bank. Over the years, this separate unit has been able to focus solely on sustainability initiatives and promoting sustainability among its staff, while ensuring that the Bank adheres to Sustainable Banking Principles. The Bank also has a Management Sub-Committee on sustainability.
DFCC Bank’s Sustainability Division has embarked on a number of sustainability initiatives over the years. Among the main initiatives is a program to plant trees to commemorate staff birthdays since January 2017. Bank had planted more than 25,000 trees under this initiative.In a campaign to reduce the use of plastic, especially focusing on single-use plastic, the Bank conducts regular plastic recycling campaigns to collect plastic items from staff and hand them to a plastic recycling company.
The Sustainability Division will also play a key role in the future by implementing the 11 Sustainable Banking Principles of the Sri Lanka Banks’ Association (SLBA) across the Bank.
In addition, the division will focus on social and environmental adherence of projects that it finances through the implementation of the SEMS.
0 comments: