BOC celebrates 77th anniversary whilst trailblazing a digital transformation
Bank of Ceylon (BOC) celebrates 77 years of trailblazing transformation in the financial services industry in Sri Lanka. The establishment of this indigenous modern bank took place in 1939 and since then it has been shaping the banking industry addressing the emerging needs of customers. The bank evolved from simple passbook to phone banking, from cash counter transaction to 24-hour enabled digital Smartzones and from traditional banking methods to cyber/virtual banking incorporating green banking to name a few of its achievements during the 77-year journey towards digital transformation.
A state council member George E De Silva spearheaded a demand for the establishment of a state-aided bank.
The inauguration took place at No. 41 Bristol Street, Colombo Fort on August 1, 1939 with the patronage of British Governor Sir Andrew Caldecott. Just as it addressed the need of that time for a commercial bank for people of this country, the bank still proudly upholds same core values that were transmitted by its founders to be a leader of positive economic change and a passionate banking service provider who provides support to all its customers from all walks of life.
In 1941, BOC opened its first outstation branch in the hill capital of Kandy which completes 75 years in 2016. Orchestrating an expansion of its branch network to all the main cities and towns, it was able to reach customers throughout the country. Currently it has 627 branches across the country with over 1200 customer touch points. Apart from its main branches BOC also maintains 15 SME units to encourage entrepreneurial growth at the grass root level. BOC’S overseas network expansion began in 1949 with the opening of BOC London branch, since then it has expanded over to Male in 1981, Chennai in 1995 and moved to the Seychelles in 2014.
Incorporating innovation as part of its story, BOC has always applied value additions that are combined with novel operational methodologies which enabled BOC to grow stronger and strengthen the country’s economic resources. The bank’s consistency in delivering best-inclass service has become the standard of excellence in the market. The brand ‘BOC’ was placed as the No.1 Brand by the Brand Finance Lanka, for eight consecutive years above all brands available in the country. It continued to set remarkable record as the highest profit earning business entity in the country with a record of Rs.25.3 billion PBT for the year ended in 2015. It has surpassed Rs.1 trillion in asset base in 2012 becoming the first to pass this milestone. The bank also exceeded Rs.1 trillion in deposit base and will reach its ‘third trillion’ achievement in the near future.
The multifaceted services are the greatest strength of BOC. From the children’s savings account to corporate credit, for state sector and private organisations, BOC is active at every level. BOC has the strength and the diversity of resources to offer its customers a range of financial solutions such as corporate banking, personal banking, SME banking, Islamic banking, investment banking, off-shore banking, development banking, international and treasury and trade financing services, through its widely spread branch network covering all parts of the country.
“The 77th anniversary is an exceptional milestone and there are not many indigenous financial organisations which celebrate such occasion. As we celebrate and reflect on the past 77 years, we remind ourselves that, as the leading bank in the country that every step we take to re-modify and transform our banking processes has the effect of providing greater value to Sri Lankans at large. Beginning from the traditional age old ‘Savings Pass’ book and ‘Cash Counter’ up to paperless online and mobile banking we have come a long way driving both the industry and the community towards digital banking,” stated BOC Chairman President’s Counsel Ronald C. Perera.
BOC is now moving further in the process of transforming the branch network to enhance customer experience by facilitating customer convenience and speedy service.
“Our success depends on our customers’ success and by deploying digital transformation we ensure to deliver our customers the best possible banking experience in return for the trust that they have placed in us for 77 years. We are now providing state-of-the-art technology in many of our key branches and move on transforming other BOC branches to provide utmost convenience to our customers anywhere in the country. We have also integrated the ‘Eco/green banking’ concept with our services, which is also a timely concern,” stated BOC General Manager D.M. Gunasekara.
In line with BOC’S 77th anniversary today, BOC will conduct several events that include religious and traditional ceremonies that include a colourful traditional perehera/procession followed by a ‘pirith’ ceremony in the evening of August 5 at the bank’s head office building and a blood donation campaign today. There will also be celebration ceremonies organised in the bank’s branch network and the bank cordially invites its customers to join these celebrations at their ‘BOC’ branch.
BOC earned global recognition as one of the top 1000 banks in the world, (Country rank No.1) as listed by ‘The Banker Magazine’ (UK) in 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016. The bank claimed its award as the only Sri Lankan brand recognized as one of Asia’s Best Brands in 2013 by the Chief Marketing Officer’s Council (CMO Council) based in Mumbai, India. Focusing on the banks achievement, Fitch Rating Lanka ranked BOC at Aa+(lka), which is the highest rating awarded to a local commercial bank and ICRA (lk) awarded AAA rating, which is the highest credit quality rating issued by ICRA Lanka.