Hatton National Bank awarded Best SME Bank in Sri Lanka at The Asian Banker International Excellence in Retail Financial Services Awards 2019

• Hatton National Bank exhibited strong financial performance for its retail business
• The bank leveraged on its network and l aunched an expansion campaign, growing its SME loan book significantly
• The bank forged strategic partnerships to deliver innovations and build relationships with SMEs

Dubai, March 21st, 2019 - Hatton National Bank was awarded Best SME Bank in Sri Lanka atThe Asian Banker International Excellence in Retail Financial Awards 2019. The awards ceremony was held in conjunction withThe Excellence in Retail Financial Services Convention 2019at Conrad Dubai, U.A.E on March 21st, 2019.

In the picture: John Holder, Chief Technologist, Realities Centre; Members of the International Advisory Council of Excellence in Retail Financial Services Awards Programme; Wilson Chia and Richard Hartung; Spiros Margaris, Founder, Margaris Ventures; Jude Fernando, Deputy General Manager - SME & Midmarket, Hatton National Bank

Hatton National Bank exhibited strong financial performance for its retail business

Hatton National Bank reported strong financial performance in 2018, growing its retail deposits and retail revenue by over 10% and 20% respectively. ROE on its retail business remained steady from the previous year at around 15%, while its cost-to-income ratio was just over 30%. Despite only having under 1% of its customers digitally active, over 5% of the bank’s income is generated through digital channels.

The bank leveraged on its network and launched an expansion campaign, growing its SME loan book significantly

The bank leveraged on its large network via strategic tie-ups to meet the diverse lending needs on Sri Lanka’s economy. It also launched expansion campaigns to intensify the on-boarding of merchants to boost volumes within Card Merchant Acquiring, parallel to enhancing convenience levels for its clientele. Coupled with a dedicated sales team, the bank expanded its SME loan book significantly year-on-year. 

The bank forged strategic partnerships to deliver innovations and build relationships with SMEs

By providing a total value proposition, the bank was able to develop relationships with new CASA rich sources such as religious institutions, schools, and SMEs requiring cash management services. The bank also introduced WEBXPAY for SME clients, partnering with a reputable third-party firm to launch an integrated commerce platform to assist SMEs to transition in to the digital space with websites and cashless transactions.

The International Excellence in Retail Financial Services programme is one of the most rigorous, prestigious and transparent awards programme for consumer financial services in the world. Covering all of the Asia Pacific, the Middle East and West Africa, the programme was instituted in 2001 to recognise the pursuit of excellence amongst retail financial institutions. The programme evaluates more than 300 banks and non-bank retail financial services players in more than 42 countries, via a rigorous audit-based approach. Detailed evaluation criteria for each category may be found at http://awards.asianbankerforums.com/retailfinancial/criteria-country

About The Asian Banker International

The Asian Banker is the region’s most authoritative provider of strategic business intelligence to the financial services community. The Singapore-based company has offices in Singapore, Malaysia, Manila, Hong Kong, Beijing, and Dubai, as well as representatives in London, New York, and San Francisco. It has a business model that revolves around three core business lines: publications, research services and forums. The company’s website is www.theasianbanker.com

You may visit the Excellence in Retail Financial Services Awards gallery at https://www.facebook.com/pg/TheAsianBanker/photos/?tab=album&album_id=10157080239284804

For further information on the collaterals for winning banks, please contact:

Mr. Alfred Labicassi
The Asian Banker
Email: alabicassi@theasianbanker.com