Sri Lanka’s leading private sector bank, HNB PLC was ranked among the Top 1000 World Banks 2019, for the third consecutive year by the prestigious UK based, The Banker magazine recently.
Setting the banking benchmark since 1970, the Magazine has provided in-depth global banking and financial data for banks, consultants, corporates and investors. The Top 1000 World Banks judges banks on their ability to deliver returns, gain strategic advantage and serve their markets.
“To be ranked among the top 1000 world banks by an internationally respected institution such as The Banker Magazine is a significant milestone and testament to the remarkable transformation that has taken place at HNB. We would also like to take this opportunity to thank our employees, whose untiring dedication and efforts have paved the path for this achievement.
“Kicking off with a substantial investment in digitization, automation of key back-office functions, followed by a centralized debt collection process and document processing, HNB has undergone a remarkable transformation recently. With these technological foundations in place, we have rolled out a series of unique technologically-enabled products and services such as HNB SOLO and the HNB FIT Savings Account- Asia’s first fitness-linked savings product. These are the first of many innovations that HNB plans to introduce a new paradigm in digitally enabled banking in Sri Lanka,” HNB Managing Director/CEO Jonathan Alles said.
The ranking is the latest in a string of accolades bestowed to HNB for its transformational approach to banking. HNB was declared the Best Bank in Sri Lanka for 2019 for the third time by Euromoney Magazine, even as The Asian Banker Magazine bestowed the rare triennial honour of recognizing HNB as the Best Managed Bank this year. The Asian Banker Magazine also conferred HNB Managing Director/CEO Jonathan Alles, the CEO Leadership Achievement Award in recognition of the numerous accomplishments and milestones achieved by HNB in line with its ambitious 2020 Vision. HNB was also recognized as the highest-ranked bank in the country by both LMD and Business Today in 2018.
Operating through 250 customer centres across the country, HNB is one of Sri Lanka’s largest and most innovative banks, having won recognition from numerous international and local institutions for -its achievement of excellence in diverse fields.
HNB became the first Sri Lankan bank to obtain an international credit rating and was assigned a foreign currency issuer rating of B1 on par with the sovereign rating by Moody’s Investors Service, while it has a national long term rating of AA- (lka) by Fitch Ratings (Lanka) Ltd.