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| Tuesday, 3 June 2003 |
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Standard Chartered Bank - the right partner by Shirajiv Sirimane One of the oldest International Banks in Sri Lanka, since 1892, Standard Chartered Bank now wants to be the right partner and not the right banker for their customers. Chief Executive Officer of the Bank Wasim Saifi said this novel concept would be promoted globally from next month. He said that along with this new concept the bank would be upgrading their branches to be on par with their other global branches. "We have completed a major refurbishment program to our customer counters at the Fort branch and from June 19 the branch would have a new look. The next branch to have this new international touch would be our Wellawatte branch." He said that they also received approval from the Central Bank to open another branch. "We will be opening this branch in Colombo 7 very soon." Speaking about Sri Lanka's banking sector he said that last year business was flourishing. "This is mainly because of the peace process. There were new investments made and Sri Lanka received more foreign aid and the cash flow too increased." He said that in this positive economic backdrop in the country the Standard Chartered Bank too grew at an healthy pace and during the first quarter in 2003 there was an increase of 15% in their operations. "Our customer base grew steadily and most importantly the demand for our Credit cards grew." He said that the Non-Resident Foreign Currency Account (NRFC) which was launched recently has turned out to be one of the most talked about products. "This is a product for Sri Lankan expatriates based overseas and with the NRFC they could feel that they have 'a point of contact' with responsibility in Sri Lanka. The benefits of this package include a choice of designated currencies, Tax exemption on interest from deposits under current regulations, Banking convenience through our 24-hour phone banking, transfer funds locally or internationally via the pay-by-phone facility and Rupee Overdraft facilities securing Foreign Currency Fixed Deposits and many more," he said. He said that their Personal Banking provides a full range of financial services and the Bank aims to deliver outstanding value through reliable, knowledgeable and efficient services. He said that the bank strongly believes that they should give some thing back to the community and has launched a series of community projects. "We just do not believe that giving a donation is community development. We get involved in the project on a long term basis." The history of the bank dates back to 1892 when an agency office was opened in Colombo and it was named Standard Bank of Ceylon. The demand prompted the British authorities in 1898 to upgrade this Branch to a licensed commercial bank. During the colonial era the bank with its origins is England was the most frequently used bank for traders and locally too it was heavily patronised. The bank grew at a steady pace maintaining their traditions and adjusting to various legislation that was introduced to the banking sector from many governments. In 1969 the Standard Chartered Bank internationally merged with the Chartered Bank of Australia, India which saw the bank changing its corporate identity to Standard and Chartered Bank. This took place in July 2002 when the bank took over ANZ Grindlays Bank. Personal Banking provides a full range of financial services and aims to deliver outstanding value through reliable, knowledgeable and efficient services to our customers in a helpful, personal and responsive manner. We are committed to consistently offer superior and different financial solutions. In Sri Lanka, the Standard Chartered Bank has a Consumer Banking network comprising eight branches and 11 Automated Teller Machines (ATMs). The Bank also offers Corporate banking and Treasury products. The Bank is the world's leading emerging markets bank. It employs nearly 30,000 people in over 500 offices in over 50 countries in the Asia Pacific Region, South Asia, the Middle East, Africa, United Kingdom and the Americas. The Bank serves consumer and wholesale banking customers. Consumer Banking provides credit cards, personal loans, mortgages, deposit taking and wealth management services to individuals and small/medium sized businesses. The Wholesale Bank provides services to multinational, regional and domestic corporate and institutional clients in trade finance, cash management, custody, lending, foreign exchange, interest rate management and debt capital markets. |
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