HNB wins award for Best Retail Bank in Sri Lanka - 2008
Hatton National Bank (HNB) has been named Sri Lanka’s Best Retail
Bank in the seventh Asian Banker Excellence in Retail Financial Services
Awards Program.
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Highlights
*For the second consecutive time, HNB won the
prestigious award for a successful retail expansion strategy
targeting new customer segments.
*Over 120 banks and financial institutions
from 22 countries across the Asia Pacific, Gulf and Central
Asian regions were evaluated as part of the Excellence in Retail
Financial Services Program. |
The bank received the award at The Asian Banker Excellence in Retail
Financial Services Awards 2009 ceremony, held in conjunction with the
region’s foremost retail banking event, the Excellence in Retail
Financial Services Convention. The ceremony was held at the Grand Hyatt
in Singapore last week.
About 120 senior bankers from award winning banks in 22 countries
across the Asia Pacific, the Gulf and Central Asian regions attended the
formal dinner, the industry’s celebration of the region’s best retail
bankers that recognizes their efforts in bringing superior products and
services to their customers.
The awards program, administered by The Asian Banker and refereed by
prominent global bankers, consultants and academics, is the most
prestigious of its kind. A stringent three month-long evaluation
process, based on a balanced and transparent scorecard, determined the
winners and the position of the different retail banks in the region.
Hatton National Bank has won the Best Retail Bank in Sri Lanka for
2008 for the second time in a row, gaining higher scores than the other
banks surveyed in the program, including Nations Trust Bank, HSBC and
Standard Chartered Bank in Sri Lanka.
Hatton National Bank possesses a wide reaching franchise throughout
the country, which increased further in 2008. It expanded its branch
network to the rural and semi-rural sectors and launched new retail
products targeting new customer segments, such as children, adolescents
and the elderly. The bank’s main target is to expand its low-cost
deposits.
This strategy proved suitable for 2008 amidst the raging inflation
and regulatory restrictions in Sri Lanka.
The bank displayed healthy profit growth of 38% and 11% growth in
retail deposits YOY from September 2007 to September 2008. The sales
performance of Hatton National Bank was astonishing, with triple digit
growth in newly opened branches. “The bank aims to enhance its
self-service sector, but still has some way to go to match the
international standards. |
