PEOPLE’S BANK
A message from the CEO
Q: How would you describe People’s Bank’s growth over the years?
A: Witnessing the transformation of People’s Bank over the last four decades has been awe-inspiring. The bank has grown tremendously not only in terms of financial aspects but also multiple facets such as branch network expansion, new products, digital channels, customer service and CSR activities.
Having been an employee of the bank for four decades, I’ve watched it respond to challenges by evolving with the times, which has been rewarding. These days, the bank has a leadership team and board of directors who appreciate that the institution’s legacy and the responsibility should be aligned with the founding objectives and be relevant for the future of Sri Lanka.
Q: What is the bank’s role in Sri Lanka’s economic development?
A: The government envisages Sri Lanka’s per capita GDP will reach US$ 8,000 by 2030. As a government owned bank, it’s incumbent on People’s Bank to strategise how it can be relevant to this economic vision. Supporting the government’s development agenda will impact the future of the country and its people.
Development and economic growth can lift people out of poverty and empower them. Our ultimate goal is to support Sri Lanka’s development. To achieve this, the bank has to maintain its independence, meet regulatory requirements and ensure the needs of stakeholders are met.
Unless the bank is governed well and financially sound, it won’t be able to contribute meaningfully to Sri Lanka’s development.
People’s Bank now meets all regulatory capital requirements, and its return on assets and equity are among the best in the financial services industry.
The contrast could not be starker from the past when the government had to provide additional capital to the bank on several occasions. At present, not only is People’s Bank able to independently raise capital from the market but it also pays a part of its profits to the government as a dividend every year.
Over the past decade, the bank has contributed over Rs. 187 billion to the government by way of direct and indirect taxes, dividends and special levies. Last year, the value created for the government by the People’s Bank group was 16.8 billion rupees, of which over 85 percent was generated by the bank.
Q: And what challenges does the bank face?
A: As it celebrates its diamond jubilee, People’s Bank faces a Sri Lanka that is on the cusp of becoming an upper middle income country, and where the needs of its individual, business, and government customers will be different to those from the past.
However, we cannot take customer trust and loyalty for granted. As Sri Lanka advances and incomes rise, customer expectations will also evolve in respect of convenience, pricing and service quality. Unless People’s Bank adapts to meet those expectations, its relevance to the economy, business community and people will erode.
Over the last decade, the bank has changed in response to these challenges and in 2015, it commenced a digital transformation, accelerating those changes.
Q: Could you outline the bank’s approach to digitalisation?
A: At the centre of digitisation is the core banking software. The second is the peripheral systems for specialist functions such as governance, security and risk management, which together with the core banking system make operations robust and transparent, while saving costs and providing real-time insights.
People’s Bank has invested more than Rs. 3 billion in technology and we’re building a single digital integrated banking system. The bank is a transformed organisation today. However, we are making continuous improvements.
In a world driven by technology, we cannot take our existing customers for granted and expect that new ones will choose People’s Bank due to our legacy. In the future, small businesses and individual customers too will shop around for the most suitable, best priced and most convenient financial services provider.
Companies in other industries too will become financial intermediaries in the future and commercial banks with only legacy systems will not be able to compete.
Q: How have stakeholders enabled the bank to achieve its objectives?
A: Being a state bank, there are many stakeholders who contribute to our success.
Our biggest asset is customers, which comprises over 14 million and is said to be the largest banking customer base in the country. Their loyalty and trust have made our entire journey possible.
Our teams have stepped up the quality of service delivered. People’s Bank’s new technology and regional structure for decision making have freed up front line staff for better customer service.
As we celebrate the bank’s diamond jubilee, there is a sense of pride about its recent transformation to one that is financially independent and modern, with best in class technology and an overarching culture of service. We have great confidence about the future because the bank has readied every facet of its business.
Finally, I’d like to thank the president, prime minister and government for the confidence and trust placed in the bank; the board of directors for their visionary guidance; the Central Bank of Sri Lanka for providing regulatory guidance; our customers for believing in us; and most importantly, my team at the bank – without whose support none of this would have been possible.
