Governor opens HNB’s newest mini customer centre at Immigration Dept.

Central Bank Governor Cabraal (far left) together with HNB Managing Director / CEO Jonathan Alles handing the pass book to the first customer at the mini customer centre Hasindu Madumal 

To facilitate hassle-free banking through formal channels, particularly for migrant labour, HNB PLC, announced the opening of its newest mini customer centre at the Department of Immigration and Emigration in Battaramulla.
HNB’s mini customer centre at the Passport office will offer migrant workers access to banking services such as the encashment of foreign remittances, and opening Rupee and foreign currency accounts. Customers also have the option of transferring cash and making use of banking facilities through HNB’s mobile banking app and digital wallet SOLO. 
Declared open by the Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) Ajith Nivard Cabraal together with HNB Managing Director/CEO, Jonathan Alles and senior officers, the mini customer centre is expected to provide prospective migrant workers with safe, efficient and reliable formal channels to send funds back home.  
“Worker’s remittances have been Sri Lanka’s largest single source of foreign exchange inflows over the past decade. Especially during the pandemic, Sri Lankans across the globe have continued to send funds home to their loved ones who depend on this income to pay for their daily essentials, and for funding education. 
The pandemic has disrupted these systems, and led to an increase in the use of informal channels that are far less secure. 
“The opening of this new mini customer centre is the latest in a series of measures HNB is launching, in support of the Central Bank’s efforts to help streamline access and performance of formal remittance networks, in order to ensure that the nation’s migrant workers have the access to a safe, secure and efficient option when sending their hard-earned income home. As such we are delighted to be opening a mini customer centre at the Department of Immigration and Emigration under the auspices of the CBSL,” HNB Managing Director / CEO Jonathan Alles said.Open for business on weekdays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., the new centre is equipped to provide digital and customized banking services, ideally suited for prospective migrants and will come under the purview of the HNB Talangama customer centre.HNB Remittance services offer customers convenience and security to transfer funds through the bank’s worldwide network of partners in every populated continent. HNB’s global network consists of more than 130 tie-ups with renowned exchange houses and banks across the world, where deposits could be made in 13 designated foreign currencies, along with Sri Lankan rupees.