ADVERTORIAL

Vallibel Finance extends to Kiribathgoda :

Easy access for updated financial tools

Vallibel Finance opened its latest service centre in Kiribathgoda amidst a large gathering of well-wishers and loyal customers with a pledge to offer financial inclusion to more people, especially individuals with little access to credit. The rising star of the finance sector is reaching out to more bustling locales, taking its innovative and easily accessible services to every corner of the island. The young company which recently secured a higher ranking from Fitch Ratings Lanka continues to capture the imagination of the masses just as it did when it first blazed into the competitive financial industry with a solemn pledge to create better access to modern-day financial tools for all.

Having recently relocated to new Head Office premises in Colombo 3, Vallibel Finance continues pushing ahead with its expansion plans for its islandwide branch and service centre network, asserting its presence throughout the finance industry in Sri Lanka as a part of its development plans for the post-war recovery period. Along with its recent string of service centre openings, the most recent one being in the lively city of gems, Ratnapura, the company’s dynamic expansion drive has played a key role in the overall growth in assets, profits and fixed deposits during the last financial year.

“Kiribathgoda is a vital area for us as we have a significant presence of key customers in the region and we wanted to bring our services to their doorstep,” said Managing Director of Vallibel Finance Jayantha Rangamuwa.

“This year we are even more focused on extending our reach around Sri Lanka; our operations have gown to such extents that we needed to shift into a bigger head office. We are planning several more service centres during the course of this year, building on our recent successes; we are looking at moving into the north-west and south soon as well. Our driving purpose is to make modern financial tools accessible to every Sri Lankan as communities recover from the war as well as more recent events such as the flooding.”

Following the Central Bank’s regulation that finance companies must be publicly listed in a bid to enhance transparency within the sector, Vallibel Finance was the first company to take the pioneering step to be listed on the CSE. The flourishing company has already stamped its seal of strength on the financial sphere, determinedly establishing itself in a competitive viewpoint alongside the larger players in the market as it passes the first anniversary of its public listing.

“We are continuously encouraged by the success of the Vallibel Group and its vast presence in the banking and finance industry, an aspect which supports us a great deal as the market has tremendous confidence in the Vallibel Group,” said Rangamuwa.

HNB IT centre, savings unit at Visakha Nursery

Hatton National Bank PLC (HNB) donated 15 specially designed XO computers to the children of Visakha Nursery School, Colombo on May 12. The project was the second in this category by HNB, the first being the donation of 100 XO computers to the children of Weihena Primary School in Galle.

This project comes under the overall HNB CSR umbrella of better education for sustainable living and the HNB Nena Pubuduwa school library and computer centre project. Launched in 2005 the Bank has donated 169 libraries and 11 computer centres to underprivileged schools creating a difference in the lives of over 40,000 children every year.

The Visakha Nursery School established in 1959 functions as a non-profit initiative and caters to the learning needs of approximately 300 children from the ages of 2 1/2 to 6 years every year.

It facilitates learning in the English medium for children from multi ethnic and social backgrounds. Recognizing the importance of computer literacy at an early age and its benefits in the development of children, the school wished to set up a separate computer centre and had approached the Hatton National Bank for assistance. Having worked with the OLPC Foundation in the past HNB was quick to note the similarity in the requirements at Visakha Nursery and purchased the XO machines to be donated. The XO computers are specially designed to suit the needs of very young children. These computers have been imported by the OLPC Foundation under the “one laptop per child” initiative and have been recommended by the Ministry of Education to aid early childhood development. In a bid to introduce the savings habit at an early age the Bank invited all the parents to open savings accounts for their children under the HNB Singithi Lama minor savings scheme.

The Bank deposited sum of Rs. 1,000 each to all Singithi Lama accounts opened on this day with an initial deposit of Rs. 2,000 and also gifted a HNB Singithi Jumbo Till to the children.