Commercial Bank of Ceylon PLC Annual Report 2022

“ComBank Digital” available on Huawei App Gallery

Huawei mobile phones users can directly download “ComBank Digital” – Commercial Bank’s single omni-channel digital banking application for free.

ComBank unveils “Anagi Women’s Banking” with exclusive new products and services

The Bank unveiled “Anagi Women’s Banking” with a new loan scheme under an expanded portfolio of initiatives designed exclusively to support the aspirations of women.

ComBank named “Most Sustainable Bank in Bangladesh”

Commercial Bank Bangladesh was adjudged the “Most Sustainable Bank in Bangladesh” for 2021.

ComBank launches scheme with SLII to finance professional studies in Insurance

The Bank collaborated with the Sri Lanka Insurance Institute (SLII), to provide special educational loans and easy payment plans to the Institute’s members, in support of their career aspirations.

ComBank supports traditional rice producers in Kokkadichcholai

Farmers in Kokkadichcholai, Batticaloa, received financial and technical support and equipment to facilitate their traditional trade of rice production, as the latest beneficiaries of the Bank’s Dirishakthi Value Chain Development Programme.

ComBank joins “Lanka Remit” – the National Remittance Mobile App

The Bank announced that it has joined the national remittance mobile application “Lanka Remit” as a participating bank, to support the Central Bank’s latest initiative to facilitate inward remittances to the country.

ACCA declares ComBank Overall Winner Best Among Banks for Sustainable Reporting

The Bank won the overall winner award for its Annual Report 2020 which was also adjudged the best in the Banking sector at the Sri Lanka Sustainability Reporting Awards presented by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) Sri Lanka.

ComBank crowned CSR Brand of Year by SLIM

The CSR Brand of the Year title presented by the Sri Lanka Institute of Marketing (SLIM) affirms not just the value and impact of the Bank’s nationally-scaled efforts to elevate IT literacy levels in Sri Lanka, but the strategic alignment the Bank has achieved between its own vision and mission, its CSR initiatives and the country’s development goals.

CPM ranks ComBank in Top 10 for “Best Management Practices” in COVID hit 2020-21

The Institute of Chartered Professional Managers of Sri Lanka (CPM) ranked the Bank among the 10 best managed companies in Sri Lanka in the two years affected by the global pandemic.

ComBank supports VTA’s Apparel Technician Course with donation of computers

The Bank recently donated new computers and accessories to the Vocational Training Authority of Sri Lanka (VTA), to support the conduct of courses for the Apparel Design Technician (NVQ Level 4) qualification.

ComBank offers career guidance to female undergraduates of Colombo University

Shattering the glass ceiling, career strategies and entering into entrepreneurship were among the focal points of a programme conducted by the Bank for a group of female undergraduates of the University of Colombo (UoC) in commemoration of International Women’s Day.

Commercial Bank Bangladesh redefines online banking with omni-channel “CBC Digital”

Commercial Bank Bangladesh transformed the online banking experience with the launch of “CBC Digital” – the Bank’s single omni-channel online banking platform.

Activation in a flash: ComBank innovates with Digital KYC procedure for “Flash” accounts

An innovative video call identity verification feature has been introduced by the Bank to its ground-breaking digital bank account “Flash”, making it possible for an account to be opened, activated and operated without ever visiting a bank branch.

ComBank wins Gold as Best ATM Enabler at LankaPay Technnovation Awards

The Bank won the Gold award as the “Best Common ATM Enabler of the Year” at the 2022 LankaPay Technnovation awards.

ComBank Digital wins AFTA award for “Best Frictionless Credit Evaluation Initiative”

A facility provided by the Bank for personal loans to be applied for online, was adjudged the ‘Best Frictionless Credit Evaluation Initiative’ in Sri Lanka by the Asian FinTech Academy (AFTA).

ComBank ranked Strongest Bank Brand in Sri Lanka for 3rd successive year

The Bank was ranked as the “Strongest Bank Brand” in Sri Lanka for the third consecutive year in the 2022 report on the country’s most valuable and strongest brands by Brand Finance.

ComBank offers WhatsApp and Viber Banking services in Sinhala, Tamil and English

The Bank enabled trilingual access to both its WhatsApp Banking and Bank with ComBank on Viber services, another first in Sri Lanka.

ComBank’s “Dirishakthi” scheme assists tea growers in Bandarawela & Deniyaya

The Bank extended financial and technical support to over 500 tea growers attached to four tea societies in Bandarawela and Deniyaya under the latest Dirishakthi Value Chain Development Programme.

ComBank adjudged “Best Corporate Bank” & “Best Retail Bank” in Sri Lanka

The Bank won the titles of “Best Retail Bank Sri Lanka 2022” and “Best Corporate Bank Sri Lanka 2022” at the annual awards of the UAE-based Global Business Review magazine.

Commercial Bank appoints Mr Sanath Manatunge as MD/CEO

The Bank announced the appointment of Chief Operating Officer Mr Sanath Manatunge as Managing Director and CEO and Mr Sellathurai Prabagar as Chief Operating Officer effective May 12, 2022.

ComBank Digital enables real-time online payments to SLSI in another first

The Commercial Bank of Ceylon became the first bank in Sri Lanka to enable online payments to the Sri Lanka Standards Institution (SLSI)by linking the institution to “ComBank Digital”, making it possible for customers to pay their fees to SLSI from anywhere and at any time.

ComBank’s “Anagi” partners with insurance companies to offer affordable insurance to female customers

The Bank partnered with several insurance companies to offer special Life and General insurance products with unmatched low premium rates exclusively for women customers, under the Bank’s “Anagi Women’s Banking” portfolio.

Q+ Payment App enables payment of dues on credit cards of other banks

Users of Commercial Bank of Ceylon’s popular Q+ Payment App can settle the outstanding due on credit cards issued by other banks via the in-app Bill Payments option, in addition to settling dues on credit cards issued by the Bank.

ComBank to widen Senior Citizen account base with relaunch of “Udara”

The Bank re-launched its “Udara” Senior Citizens Account with new features and special interest rates to widen the account holder base and to offer more rewards to this customer segment.

ComBank enables Senkadagala Finance to be first local finance co. to activate EMV 3DS on Visa cards

The Bank enabled Senkadagala Finance PLC to become the first finance company in Sri Lanka to activate EMV 3DS fraud prevention technology in the authentication of Visa card transactions of the latter’s customers.

ComBank breaks new ground with women-only “Anagi” Credit Cards

The Anagi Credit Card is another addition to the extensive product offering of its Anagi Women’s Banking portfolio

ComBank clinches two titles at FinanceAsia Country Awards 2022

The Bank was once again crowned the “Best Bank in Sri Lanka”, as well as the ‘Best Sustainable Bank in Sri Lanka’ in 2022 at FinanceAsia’s flagship Country Awards .

Flash Digital Account teams up with online pharmacy Flash Health for convenient payments

Flash Digital Bank Account was linked as a convenient mode of payment, to the revolutionary online pharmacy Flash Health App to facilitate
flash-fast home delivery of medicines to users.

ComBank ranked among world’s Top 1000 banks for 12th consecutive year

The globally-respected UK magazine “The Banker” once again included the Commercial Bank of Ceylon in its prestigious “Top 1000 World Banks” ranking, making Commercial Bank the only Sri Lankan bank to be ranked among the elite global giants in banking for 12 consecutive years.

ComBank’s pioneering ePassbook goes multilingual

“ComBank ePassbook” – Sri Lanka’s first digital passbook – was made available in Sinhala and Tamil in addition to English, to further encourage digital banking habits and improve the customer experience.

ComBank and CISCO help prepare over 2,000 students for careers in IT

More than 2,000 young Sri Lankans successfully completed a selection of IT courses offered by the CISCO Networking Academy, as a result of a collaboration between the Academy and the Commercial Bank of Ceylon.

ComBank launches “Arunalu” Foreign Currency Savings Account for children

A timely opportunity to save for children in foreign currency has been unveiled by the Bank with the launch of the “Arunalu” Foreign Currency Minor’s Savings Account.

ComBank wins coveted double at Asiamoney Banking awards

The Bank won two coveted international awards – “Best Bank for Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) Banking” and “Best Bank for Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG)” at the awards event of the respected Asiamoney magazine.

ComBank launches “Forex Plus” Foreign Currency FD scheme

The Bank launched a special Foreign Currency Fixed Deposit (FD) scheme in a further response to the requirement to attract investments from foreign sources.

ComBank adjudged “Best Engaging Overall Cards Base” by Daraz for 3rd consecutive year

The Bank was adjudged the “The Best Engaging Overall Cards Base” for the third consecutive year at the “Payment Partner Performance Awards 2022” hosted by Daraz, South Asia’s largest e commerce platform.

ComBank offers certificate course for women entrepreneurs with PIM

The Bank launched a ground-breaking certificate course in SME skills development exclusively for women entrepreneurs, in collaboration with the Postgraduate Institute of Management (PIM) affiliated with the University of Sri Jayewardenepura.

LMD ranks ComBank the Most Respected Bank in Sri Lanka for 18th year

The Bank was declared the Most Respected Bank in Sri Lanka for the 18th consecutive year and has retained its ranking as the fourth Most Respected corporate entity in the country overall, in the 2022 ‘Most Respected Entities in Sri Lanka’ rankings published by the LMD magazine.

ComBank revolutionises Sri Lankan banking with “wearable banking” via Flash Digital Account

The Bank scaled new heights in digital innovation, becoming the first bank in Sri Lanka to take banking to the realm of wearable technology with the introduction of Flash Wearable Banking

ComBank ranked Sri Lanka Market Leader in “CSR” & “SME Banking” by Euromoney

The Bank was ranked as “Market Leader” in Sri Lanka in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and SME Banking under the Euromoney Market Leaders 2022 Accreditation.

Combank.lk becomes top “Banking and Finance” website in Sri Lanka

The corporate website of the Bank was recognised as the top “Banking and Finance” website in the country at the BestWeb.lk 2022 competition hosted by the LK Domain Registry. The Bank won the Silver – the highest award presented in its category.

ComBank announces 3rd “Arunalu Siththam” art competition for young Sri Lankans

The Bank announced that the Bank’s popular children’s art competition “Arunalu Siththam” is back for a third year, extending an invitation to young Sri Lankans countrywide to express themselves through their artistic talents.

ComBank’s effort to shape digital Sri Lanka reaches landmark with 250th IT lab donation

The Bank donated its 250th IT Lab to a school in Maharagama, reaching a milestone in the Bank’s flagship community initiative to take digital literacy to the grassroots in support of national development goals.

ComBank presented prestigious dual awards by Asiamoney

The Bank was presented the awards for “Best Bank for Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) Banking” and “Best Bank for Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG)”.

ComBank once again the highest-ranked bank in “LMD 100”

The Bank was once again made the highest-ranked bank in the latest edition of the “LMD 100” and is the only bank among the Top 10 companies on this prestigious list widely considered Sri Lanka’s version of the Fortune 500.

ComBank introduces breakthrough “Tap to Phone” payments acceptance

The Bank became the first Sri Lankan Bank to introduce card acceptance through Android smartphones, allowing its merchants to conveniently and cost effectively accept card payment transactions.

ComBank & ITN treat children to a day of fun at Leisure World

More than 5000 children were treated to a fun-filled day at the Leisure World theme park by the Bank in partnership with ITN to celebrate World Children’s Day, observed in Sri Lanka annually on October 01.

ComBank launches Middle Management Development Programmes

The Bank launched a Middle Management Development Programme to enhance the skills and competencies of employees in this segment and to enable them to achieve their professional growth goals.

ComBank wins “World Class Award” at the Global Performance Excellence Awards presented by Asia Pacific Quality Organisation

The Bank was recognised as a role model with a Global Performance Excellence Award (GPEA) for achieving significant milestones in business excellence.

ComBank website wins global award from USA’s Web Marketing Association

The USA-based Web Marketing Association (WMA) has recognised Commercial Bank of Ceylon with a “Bank Standard of Excellence” award at the Association’s WebAwards 2022, at which the world’s best websites in 86 industries were honoured.

ComBank to enhance support to export sector in partnership with NCE

The Bank entered into a strategic partnership with the National Chamber of Exporters of Sri Lanka (NCE) to create another platform to extend financial solutions to the country’s exporters, with emphasis on small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

ComBank wins 4 awards at world’s largest annual report competition

The 2021 Annual Report of the Commercial Bank won four awards including a Gold and a Bronze at the latest edition of the MerComm ARC Awards, the world’s largest annual report competition.

ComBank conducts entrepreneurship development programme for VTA students in Anuradhapura

A group of 125 students following various vocational training courses in Anuradhapura, recently benefitted from an entrepreneurship development programme conducted by the Bank, under the banner of its Dirishakthi Sustainable Entrepreneurships Development initiatives.

ComBank undertakes to reforest 100 hectares in Kandegama, Polonnaruwa

A 100-hectare swath of degraded habitat belonging to the Kandegama forest in the Dimbulagala range of the Polonnaruwa District is to be reforested by the Bank under its latest environment-linked commitment.

ComBank declared ADB’s “Leading Partner Bank in SL” for Trade & Supply Chain Finance

The Bank won the Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) “Leading Partner Bank in Sri Lanka” for the second consecutive year at the 2022 Trade and Supply Chain Finance Programme (TSCFP) Awards that recognise the contributions of leading partner banks to trade in Asia and the Pacific.

ComBank subsidiary CBC Tech Solutions appointed retail partner for Lenovo

CBC Tech Solutions Limited, a fully-owned Information Technology subsidiary of the Bank has been appointed a retail partner for Lenovo products in Sri Lanka, and will continue to offer a wide spectrum of IT solutions to local corporates.

ComBank highest-ranked bank in “Business Today Top 40” for 14th year

The Bank became the highest-ranked bank and one of the five best-performing companies in Sri Lanka for the 14th consecutive year in the latest Business Today Top 40 ranking released in November 2022.

ComBank engages with Sri Lankans in Singapore to promote business

The Bank engaged with Sri Lankan expatriates living in Singapore at a two-day programme to promote a host of products and services, conducted in collaboration with the Sri Lankan High Commission in the country.

ComBank becomes only Bank in Sri Lanka to win National Quality Award from SLSI

The Bank was honoured by the Sri Lanka Standards Institution (SLSI) with the National Quality Award – the highest award presented in the country to recognise performance excellence in quality.

ComBank opens 269th branch in Kirillawala

The Bank recently opened its 269th branch in Sri Lanka in Kirillawala

ComBank introduces digital receipts for CRM & ATM withdrawals

The Bank introduced digital receipts for ATM transactions, another green banking initiative that is not only environment friendly, but enhances convenience to customers, cuts down on transaction charges and reduces paper wastage.

ComBank signs a MoU with UNDP Sri Lanka to promote financial inclusivity of women and environment restoration

Bank signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Sri Lanka to promote financial empowerment and inclusion of women through economic development towards a green development pathway for Sri Lanka.

ComBank launches maturity-based foreign currency investment plan

The Bank announced the launch of a unique investment plan that enables Sri Lankans earning foreign currency to save fixed monthly amounts and enjoy attractive interest rates to build foreign currency savings

ComBank named “Strongest Bank in Sri Lanka in 2022” by Asian Banker

The Bank was proclaimed the “Strongest Bank in Sri Lanka” in 2022 by Asian Banker, a leading platform in the Banking and Financial Services industry.

ComBank wins Oscar-equivalent “Bank of the Year” award from “The Banker” – UK

The Bank was crowned Sri Lanka’s “Bank of the Year” by the respected “The Banker” magazine of the UK, the Oscar equivalent of the banking fraternity.

ComBank places Sri Lanka on global map at UN Climate Change Conference

The Bank recently had the distinction of being featured to a global audience as one of 25 banks around the world that are working to promote environment consciousness among their customers through its environmental feature in the Flash Digital Bank Account.

ComBank wins Green Building Award for Trincomalee branch building

The Trincomalee branch was recently awarded a Gold rating under the Green Building awards presented by the Green Building Council of Sri Lanka (GBCSL) for the building’s eco-friendly features.

ComBank introduces “Visa Direct” and “Mastercard Send” card-to-card fund transfers – a first in Sri Lanka

Bank enabled “Visa Direct” and “Mastercard Send” card-based fund transfer facilities for the first time in Sri Lanka. With this digital initiative of Bank, Visa and Mastercard Debit and Prepaid cardholders can transfer funds to any locally-issued Visa and Mastercard Debit, Credit or Prepaid card through Commercial Bank’s ATMs, CRMs and Q+ Payment App.

Organisational Overview

Key Events of the Year

January