In the lead up to International Children’s Day, HNB PLC, Sri Lanka’s leading private sector bank, encouraged minors and parents to double down on their savings for the future by making use of the bank’s unique portfolio of reward schemes.

Over the years, the bank has added greater value to what is already Sri Lanka’s single most popular savings accounts- spanning Singithi Kirikatiyo, Singithi Lama and HNB Teen to cater to the needs of children at every stage of their growth from birth to age of 12, and from adolescence to adulthood.

HNB has utilized the Singithi and HNB Teen products to inculcate the habit of savings among young Sri Lankans and get them excited to save regularly by linking their achievements to consistent and tangible rewards.

“Given the great uncertainty that we are all facing in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and the many disruptions to daily life that it has caused, we believe that we have to double down on our efforts to ensure a bright future for the next generation. As the first bank to introduce a branded minor savings account in 1991, we at HNB have decided to go above and beyond to safeguard the interests of our youngest customers and provide parents with peace of mind during these uncertain times.

“Over the past few years, the bank has established several reward schemes to recognize and reward the achievements of children to encourage and inculcate the habit of saving. Despite the challenges brought on by the pandemic, we have continued to enhance and bolster these schemes as we believe it is important to establish a resilient source of funds for the future,” HNB Deputy General Manager- Retail and SME Banking, Sanjay Wijemanne.

HNB will kick off its highly annual anticipated Singithi Giftober Savings month with a wide range of exciting gifts from its jumbo penholders, stationary packs, travelling bags and HNB branded tea sets to gift vouchers of up to Rs. 100,000 for its minor savers in celebration of Children’s Day. The bank will provide its minor accounts holders with the opportunity to obtain maximum benefits on their deposits with the HNB Singithi Giftober promotion, which will run exclusively from October 5th to November 23rd.

The bank will also be launching its exclusive HNB Minor Investment Plan Account in October, offering customers the opportunity to reach their financial goals and dreams through targeted investments customized to their needs and wants.

Amongst the bank’s most notable reward schemes is the largest scholarship programme in Sri Lanka, HNB Diri Daru, which offers cash prizes and scholarships to students who successfully pass the grade five scholarship exam and high achieving GCE and London O/L and A/L students who maintain the minimum balance required. HNB offered over 2,500 grade five scholarship Singithi accountholders with prizes exceeding Rs. 20 million in value for the scholarship exam conducted in 2020.

To be eligible for prizes and scholarships under the flagship national scholarship programme, students with Singithi accounts should maintain a minimum balance of Rs. 10,000. Any student meeting this criterion and achieves the cut-off mark is entitled to a cash prize of Rs. 5,000, which will be doubled to Rs. 10,000 if there is a monthly standing order of a minimum of Rs. 500 in place for the account.

Last year, HNB also launched the special insurance scheme on standing orders issued from parents into Singithi and Teen savings accounts. Working in partnership with HNB Assurance, the bank guarantees that in the unfortunate event of a parent’s demise- due to natural or accidental death- HNB will continue the monthly standing orders placed to their children’s account between the values of Rs. 1,000 – 25,000 until the child reaches the age of 18.

In addition to operating the most popular and valuable gifts scheme in the country, the bank was also the first to introduce Student Saving Units (SSU). Having since expanded to over 162 SSUs island-wide, the bank is responsible for training over 1,000 student managers annually with first-hand experience managing mini banks inside schools.

In this manner, the bank has enhanced financial literacy among Sri Lanka’s youth, thereby providing the next generation with one of the most valuable and important gifts they can receive, a sense of responsibility and control over their savings, which will guarantee a strong and stable foundation for a bright and prosperous future.

“The importance of children’s savings cannot be undervalued given the prevailing pandemic situation. Over the past few months, we have witnessed a sizeable number of customers work towards increasing their savings to fall back on for emergencies and, more importantly, as an investment in their children’s future. As such, we have taken on the responsibility of ensuring that all our minor account holders have the option to live out their dreams as they grow up with the necessary financial backing,” HNB Head of Deposits, Viranga Gamage said.

Singithi Kirikatiyo Account is specially designed for newborn children and can be opened by parents within three months from the child’s date of birth. The account offers one of the highest interest rates and will gift a free deposit of Rs. 1,000 at the time of opening from HNB and entitling account holders with special gifts on their birthday relative to the account balance maintained. On reaching the age of five years, each account will be automatically converted to an HNB Singithi account and into an HNB Teen account at 13.

With 254 customer centres across the country, HNB is one of Sri Lanka’s largest, most technologically innovative banks, having won local and global recognition for its efforts to drive forward a new paradigm in digital banking. The bank was ranked among the World Top 1,000 Banks list compiled by the prestigious UK-based Banker Magazine for five consecutive years and declared Best Sub-Custodian Bank in Sri Lanka at the Global Finance Awards 2020. HNB has a national rating of AA- (lka) by Fitch Ratings (Lanka) Ltd.