Hatton National Bank was recently recognized as the ‘Best Managed Bank During COVID19 in Sri
Lanka’ by the prestigious Asian Banker Magazine, while the Bank’s Managing Director and CEO
Jonathan Alles, was awarded the Leadership Achievement Award for having delivered the Best CEO
response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Sri Lanka.
“I am indebted to my staff for their sacrifices and tremendous dedication in ensuring smooth
continuity of business at such a critical moment when our customers needed us the most. Our
strategy during this time was focused on providing essential support to those who were most
severely impacted by the COVID crisis, while extending our assistance to all customers to rapidly
transition into digital banking channels”.
“We are proud to say that these efforts have been very successful. As a nation, we still have a tough
road ahead, but we remain optimistic that if we continue to work together, we can overcome any
challenge and support a grassroots recovery in key sectors of the national economy,” Alles stated.
HNB stepped up to provide essential relief to over 85,000 customers, covering approximately 40%
of the bank’s lending portfolio, through moratoriums and has thus far approved working capital
financing of approx. Rs 24 billion under the Central Bank relief schemes. The Bank also setup a Rs 5
billion fund to support the SME customers who were not eligible under the CBSL schemes. This
scheme was launched utilizing bank’s own funds.
Recently HNB launched a Rs 20 million fund to provide assistance by way of a grant to 200
microfinance customers. The grant will enable customers who have been affected by the on-going
COVID pandemic to revive their businesses.
HNB’s strategic focus on being future ready and early adoption of digitalization enabled the Bank to
support the customers within the social distancing guidelines. The customers were offered the
convenience of carrying out their routine transactions such as balance enquiry, bill payments, fund
transfers, opening fixed deposits etc. from any location, through the ebanking platform, which is
being revamped currently. The support required continued to be provided through the 24×7
Contact Centre.
Additionally, the bank’s digital payment options including MOMO – mobile POS, SOLO – QR based
payment app and the internet payment gateway proved to be timely as it provided the businesses the
ability to accept cash-less payments. Launching Appigo platform amid lockdown, the bank enabled
the merchants to create a comprehensive and fully functional online store from scratch in a very short period of time. In order to facilitate transactions with vendors who were unable to accept
card or online payments, HNB launched the doorstep mobile ATM service during lockdown. Despite
the challenges brought about by COVID, the bank also pursued critical technology enhancement
projects under the bank’s transformation roadmap. Accordingly, the bank’s Finacle core banking
solution was upgraded to the most up-to-date version available in Sri Lanka.
Ensuring health and safety of all the stakeholders remain a key priority of the bank. As such, the bank
continues to fully adhere to the measures outlined by the health authorities.
Notably, in 2019, Asian Banker recognized HNB as the Best Managed Bank in the Country for its
performance from 2016-2018 and the MD / CEO was bestowed with the Leadership Achievement
Award. HNB was also declared the Best Retail Bank in Sri Lanka at the prestigious Asian Banker
Excellence in Retail Financial Services Awards 2020, marking the 11th occasion that bank emerged as
winners. The award was presented to HNB in recognition of the bank’s sustainable growth and
continuous improvements in processes, products and services amidst a challenging macroeconomic
environment.
With 252 customer centres across the country, HNB is one of Sri Lanka’s largest, most
technologically innovative banks having won local and global recognition for its efforts to drive
forward a new paradigm in digital banking. The bank has continuously won prestigious accolades
locally and internationally and is ranked number 3 on the LMD ‘Most Awarded 2019 /20 Hall of
Fame Top 50 ranking. HNB is also ranked among the Top 1,000 banks globally by The Banker
Magazine. Locally, HNB is amongst the ‘Business Today Top 10’ and the ‘10 Most Admired
Companies’ in Sri Lanka by CIMA and ICCSL.