HNB consolidates position as people-centric bank: wins recognition at LankaPay Technnovation Awards

Consolidating its position as a pioneer in digital banking and customer experience, Sri Lanka’s premier private sector bank HNB PLC was recognized among the top Private and State financial institutions at the recently held LankaPay Technnovation Awards 2023.

The bank was awarded the Bank of the Year for Excellence in Customer Convenience in Category A, in recognition of key initiatives launched to ensure convenience to customers across its digital platforms, where Category A consisted of large state and private banks. They were adjudged to be the best bank in providing customer convenience through digital products and the facilitation of an increased number of digital transactions.

Hosted by LankaPay to recognize and reward flag bearers and promoters of innovative digital payment solutions, the awards were held under the patronage of Central Bank of Sri Lanka Governor, Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe as the Chief Guest.

Commenting on the award, HNB Deputy General Manager – Retail and SME Banking, Sanjay Wijemanne said, “We are thrilled to be recognized at the Technnovation Awards for the second consecutive year. We also need to recognize the efforts of all the winners and nominees, who have continued to build upon the efforts towards making Sri Lanka a digitally empowered nation. Within this prestigious pool of businesses, we are honored that our efforts towards supporting innovative digital payment solutions was acknowledged.”

The bank redefined customer experience in digital banking by accurately mapping out critical points, following the complete overhaul and restructuring and digitalization of its front, middle and back-end functions in 2013. The move pushed the organizational culture into a digital-first mindset.

Moreover, the bank established Digital Centers of Excellence to centralize administrative and back-office functions, which led to a significant portion of its operations being automated.

“We take a holistic view towards our customer Journeys with regard to products and services and we are aggressive in establishing the necessary technological infrastructure to adopt new capabilities across the organisation. The only rule is that it must effectively serve the needs of our customers. By combining automation, Artificial Intelligence (AI), robotic process automation, and other emerging technologies, banks can offer digital financial assistance to facilitate seamless and frictionless transactions. For our customers the result will be greater convenience, value, and security,” said HNB Assistant General Manager – Digital Business, Chammika Weerasinghe.

The win at the Technnovation awards builds upon bank’s recent industry recognitions which includes the Gold Award for Best Search Engine Optimisation/Search Engine Marketing and the Silver for the Best Use of Experiential Digital Marketing at the SLIM DIGIs 2.2 Awards; along with the recognition of HNB FIT, Asia’s first fitness related app launched by Sri Lanka’s most digitally- savvy bank HNB PLC, being crowned as the ‘Best IoT initiative’ at the Asian Digital Finance Forum and Awards.

Initiated in 2017 with the aim of recognizing the pioneers of payment technology innovations in the country, the LankaPay Technnovation Awards recognizes institutions that promote and increase the usage of their products, driving volume and growth in the market.

With 256 customer centres and 800+ Self Service machines (SSMs) nation-wide, HNB is one of Sri Lanka’s largest, most technologically innovative private banks. Consolidating its legacy in sustainability, good governance and corporate excellence, HNB was crowned the Best Corporate Citizen for 2022 at the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce Best Corporate Citizen Awards. The bank further secured four additional accolades, including being ranked among the Top 10 Best Corporate Citizens and taking home the Governance category and Sustainability Champion for the Finance sector titles.

Additionally, HNB was ranked among the World’s Top 1,000 Banks list compiled by the prestigious UK-based Banker Magazine for the sixth consecutive year in 2022, in addition to being crowned the Best Retail Bank in Sri Lanka for the 13th occasion at the prestigious International Excellence in Retail Financial Services Awards 2023 hosted by the Asian Banker Magazine.

(L to R): Chakshika Amarawardhana (HNB Senior Manager – Digital Banking), Dr. Kenneth De Zilwa, (Chairman, LankaPay Pvt Ltd), Nihal Fonseka (Member of the Monetary Board of CBSL), Sanjay Wijemanne (HNB Deputy General Manager, Retail and SME Banking), Chammika Weerasinghe, (HNB Assistant General Manager, Digital Business) and Channa De Silva (General Manager / CEO – LankaPay Pvt Ltd.)