LEADING BRANDS PROFILE
Q: How has your bank’s brand evolved since inception?
A: BOC or Bank of Ceylon is a tower of strength to the nation – built over 83 years while empowering the Sri Lankan community to fulfil its socioeconomic potential, intuitively adopting the path of a trailblazer.
As a leading commercial bank, BOC sets benchmarks for the local banking sector, and has opened a world of opportunities for every individual and business entity alike to elevate their living standards in every aspect of life.
When one considers the humble beginnings of the bank, it has strategically incorporated innovative technology and novel banking concepts, providing world-class banking at a fraction of the cost.
Today, BOC operates 646 branches, a network of over 1,400 ATM/ CDM/CRMs locally, and maintains overseas branches in Chennai, Male, Hulhumalé and Seychelles, and a fully-fledged banking subsidiary in London. Its networking capacity has expanded to over 1,000 foreign correspondent banking and international exchange houses across the globe.
BOC currently leads with the highest volume of foreign inward remittances streaming through a banking channel; it also leads in the PFC market.
Q: And how important is reputation and integrity for a brand?
A: BOC strongly believes that integrity is an imperative value to live by. Being able to thrive as the No. 1 banking brand in the country, sustaining growth and value creation, BOC has become an icon in Sri Lanka’s banking sector for its resilience and strength.
The success of BOC was built over years of investments in building its reputation through the highest standards of integrity and trust.
Q: What do you believe is the impact of branding on sustainability and growth of the brand?
A: BOC considers branding to be more than simply advertising and marketing; it requires understanding ‘the purpose’ of the brand and value it generates to stakeholders.
As a result, BOC boasts of a balance sheet that exceeds Rs. 1 trillion with its asset base exceeding 3.8 trillion rupees, a deposit base of Rs. 2.9 trillion, and loans and advances standing at 2.6 trillion rupees at 31 December 2021.
The bank leads in digital transformation as it forms the largest interconnected banking network in the country with over 2,000 customer touch points and sophisticated online banking channels. BOC can also be reached through all popular social media platforms that communicate and engage with customers 24/7.
BOC’s efforts to build a digitally inclusive banking sector has been recognised as the overall winner at the Technovation Awards 2022 – organised by LankaPay – with four Gold awards and one Merit award.
The bank always makes careful financial and non-financial investments towards the sustainable growth of the brand – i.e. through every aspect of brand building, encouraging a learning culture for human resource development and operational activities.
BOC was adjudged the Best Service Provider of the Year and Best Banking Service Provider of the Year at the SLIM Kantar Peoples Awards 2022. This was the fourth time it received Best Banking Service Provider of the Year award at the annual awards ceremony.
Q: What role can brand investments play in accelerating business recovery?
A: BOC considers brand building to be a strategic investment; however, before making any strategic investments, the bank strongly believes in maintaining a strong core – a value structure that identifies the scope of business, value it intends to generate for stakeholders and mechanism it operates.
BOC extended its brand through BOC SME Circle, BOC Export Circle and the BOC Business Revival and Rehabilitation unit, which combines banking products with value added services that not only provide financial assistance but also business intelligence, and help build business networks with related authorities and external stakeholders.
The brand also incorporated digital technology to take banking to remote areas by investing in digital services such as BOC Agent Banking.
Moreover, the bank has aligned its long-term sustainability and goals with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs); and it continues to be a responsible corporate citizen through social empowerment, green banking and focussing on economic development.
Brand BOC has been recognised as the No. 1 banking brand in the country for the last 13 consecutive years; and it is the only banking brand to surpass a brand value of Rs. 50 billion in Sri Lanka.
It was awarded the coveted title Bank of the Year 2021 – Sri Lanka and ranked among the Top 1000 Banks in the World by The Banker Magazine UK.
