Pan Asia Bank to achieve strong growth in 2013
Pan Asia Banking Corporation PLC (PABC), one of the key financial institutions in Sri Lanka has plotted major plans for 2013 further improving its banking services and products. Having completed 17 years in operation Pan Asia Bank has passed several milestones unmistakably important to all stakeholders, according to Deputy General Manager - Retail Banking & SME Irishad Ally.
With the inauguration in March 1995 under t he Companies Act No.17 of 1982 and re-registered under the Companies Act No.07 of 2007, a licensed commercial bank under the Banking Act No.30 of 1988 and listed at the Colombo Stock Exchange Pan Asia Bank has always extended the full range of banking products and services focusing on Retail, SME and Corporate banking segments. “When we look back at our brief history, we can proudly say that we have successfully secured the position of becoming one of the fastest growing banks in Sri Lanka. In 2011 Pan Asia Bank recorded the highest growth rate in deposits as well as advances. Our profits recorded a mammoth YOY growth of 128 per cent, which I believe was the highest growth in terms of profits in the banking industry of Sri Lanka in that year. Even in 2012 when certain macroeconomic challenges slowed down the growth of the banking industry as a whole, we managed to keep our focus on our growth momentum. Also, we turned this challenge in to an opportunity and revisited our strategy and realigned our business focus to differentiate ourselves based on what we offer – a personalized service, a line of innovative and true value added products coupled with competitive interest rates,” said Ally.
Pan Asia Bank has historically come out with innovative products in a timely manner, which was supported with its branch expansion. The key is the right team of members on board – good business leaders who would look at all opportunities. “Opportunities are all over the place unless you discover them and get the best out of it. That is what we did. We look at every opportunity in the market and come out with better products first. For example, when we saw the price escalation in the gold market, we launched ‘Ran Loan’ enabling the consumer to take advantage of the price increase in terms of a credit facility backed by gold. This was a win-win opportunity for the bank as well as the customers. Our Champion Saver products helped customers to get increased interest rates on their savings deposits with escalating market rates. If you take our children’s savings account “Daskam”, we make an additional deposit to the tune of 10 per cent of each customer deposit made to the account. For example, if the customer deposits Rs.1 million in his child’s account, the Pan Asia Bank also deposits Rs.100,000/- to that account taking the total to Rs.1.1 million. Most importantly we pay interest for the total amount of 1.1 million. Also, in 2012 we offered a 5 year FD that doubles the deposit on maturity. These are some of the products we introduced last year,” he added.
“In my opinion, 2013 will be year of “boom” for the banking industry and the economy at large. The year started with a positive note with relaxing of more exchange control regulations, which is a good move. This will certainly make things easier to attract more foreign investments. A sharp increase in the private consumption was witnessed and this resulted in a fall in the country’s domestic savings and this affected the growth of the current accounts & savings accounts portfolios of the banking industry. I trust this would be reversed in 2013 with expected improvements in the country’s inflation and per capita income. I also expect interest rates to remain low in 2013, unlike what we saw in 2012 which would not help the growth of the country.
“We are very excited and optimistic about 2013 especially as the government has already taken some development friendly initiatives and measures. Hence, we are determined to make 2013 as another year in which Pan Asia Bank will move aggressively to grow its market share. In addition, we have plans to launch a range of new products this year which will bring true value to customers both rationally as well as emotionally. This year our main focus will be on Retail and SME segments, which we expect to be in the forefront of the country’s development. Pan Asia Bank has 73 branches at the moment and we are looking at increasing this significantly before the end of 2013. We have a highly committed result oriented staff at all levels who would make all of the above a reality.
“Our latest product offering to the market, Pan Asia Bank World Master Card is the highest category of Master Card currently being issued in the world. It provides unparallelled membership access privileges across the globe with higher credit limits and additional features that go way beyond regular discount and special offer driven competitor credit cards. We are proud to say that Pan Asia Bank was the first Sri Lankan bank to introduce World Master Card in Sri Lanka,” explained Ally.-