23 December 2021 12:00 am Views - 117
The Chairperson of the National Savings Bank receiving the award from Past President of CA Sri Lanka. (From Left to Right) : Mr. K Raveendran - Senior Deputy General Manager, National Savings Bank, Mr. Ajith Peiris - General Manager/CEO, National Savings Bank, Ms. Chamila Cooray - Alternative Chairperson of Annual Report Committee 2021, Ms. Keasila Jayawardena - Chairperson, National Savings Bank, Mr. Ranil T Wijesinghe - Past President of CA Sri Lanka and Mr. Chaaminda Kumarasiri - Chairman of Annual Report Award Committee 2021 and Member of the Governing Council CA Sri Lanka.
The National Savings Bank (NSB), the largest licensed Specialised Bank in Sri Lanka, has bagged prestigious “Silver “award jointly with the People’s Bank under the State Banks category for its Annual Report 2020 themed “Playing our part: True to our word and dear to your heart” at 56th CA Sri Lanka Annual Reports Awards ceremony held at the BMICH.
The global COVID-19 pandemic upset the status quo to life and enterprise during the year gone by, more than any other phenomenon in the recent history. National Savings Bank stepped up to the plate to fully support our customers. We ensured customers had access to the Bank and its services across all branches in the network even at the height of lockdown, whilst implementing a host of other measures that served to take banking to the doorstep of the customer. The manner in which NSB employees faced the challenge of driving these initiatives, against trying odds was truly praiseworthy and their efforts commendable.
Another boon to customers is embodied in the fact that over 90% of our customer loans received moratorium during 2020. Customers showed their confidence in the strength of the Bank as vindicated by significant growth in our deposit base and loan portfolio. In this “COVID era” the Bank moved even further along its digital banking pathway helping to mitigate impacts on connectivity with customers and product and service delivery.
The performance of the Bank over the year was characterized by strength and resilience. Despite the heightened uncertainty due to the impact of Covid-19 which have a wide-ranging impacts of the Bank, employees, customers and economy, our continued focus on financial resilience enable us to remain strong and achieve a solid performance. The Bank is of the view that its Annual Report is not merely about its financials but also a story behind those numbers and the journey towards its purpose of existence. The report was presented on the concept of concise communication about Bank’s performance, strategy, governance and the prospects in the context of its external environment.
The NSB is the only Sri Lankan bank with a 100% government guarantee for its depositors’ money and interest therein, hence embraced the safest place for saving. The Bank main objective is to inculcate savings habits and providing retail as well as corporate loans. We serve customers that come from all segments of the Sri Lankan society and our leading products are aimed at providing for every banking need of the different age group from infants to elderly people of their choices.
Firmly rooted in the national economy as, NSB serves the nation by contributing to the General Treasury by way of taxes, levies, fees, and dividend. By its statute, NSB invests minimum 60% of its deposits in guilt-edged Government securities, thus becoming as the one of the largest Government Security holders in the nation. NSB participates in nation building by funding long-term development projects and other socio-economic projects of the country and helps the Government to maintain stability and sustainability of the financial system.
The Bank possesses 261 island wide branches, 39 Smart Zones, 300+ Automated Teller Machines (ATM)/ Cash Deposit machines (CDMs)/ Cash Recycling Machines (CRMs), 4063 post offices and sub post offices with total accounts amounted to 21.7million at the end of September 2021. The Bank has been assigned [SL] AAA with Stable outlook by ICRA Lanka Limited, a group company of Moody’s Investors Service. The rating reflects 100% government ownership and explicit guarantee on deposits, good quality lending portfolio, presently adequate capital profile and low risk investment portfolio. Moreover, the Bank is honoured by the Global Finance as the Safest Bank in Sri Lanka for the fifth consecutive year 2020 and 5th most valued brand in Sri Lanka in 2021 by Brand Finance with a Brand Rating of AA.
At our core we are an institution committed to fostering a healthy, sustainable, and secure savings protocol for all people of the Nation. The Bank is today one of the strongest and safest financial institutions in the country. The Bank’s success is reflected in our Annual Report, and it is heartening to see our hard work recognized through this Award. The award validates our commitment towards creating value for all our stakeholders, improved communication on our performance, strategy, prospects, and corporate governance in a timely, reliable and transparent manner. We are dedicating our success to all our stakeholders, including our customers, the State as the sole shareholder and our employees.
NSB has been continuously recognized and rewarded for the commitment towards best practices in annual reporting amongst various corporations, small companies, government agencies, non-profit organization and associations as well as agencies from different sectors and industries who has participated in the competitions namely International Arc Awards, CMA Excellence in Integrated Reporting Awards and South Asian Federation of Accountants (SAFA) Awards.
NSB approaches its 50th year of operations in 2022. We are confident that we are well positioned to grow business in step with the emerging new customer and economy of the future. NSB remains guided by our essential values and mission amidst the changes and challenges presented by the environment, while the shape of banking will change – and we will adapt to it – our responsibilities and our commitment to our purpose will remain steadfast. We will continue to play our part, remaining true to our word and dear to the hearts of our customers.
(From Left to Right) : Mr. K Raveendran - Senior Deputy General Manager, National Savings Bank, Mr. Ajith Peiris - General Manager/CEO, National Savings Bank, Ms. Keasila Jayawardena - Chairperson, National Savings Bank, Mr. Hasitha Athapattu - Deputy General Manager ( Finance and Planning ), National Savings Bank.