Sampath Bank PLC
Encyclopedia
Sampath Bank is a licensed Commercial Bank incorporated in Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...

 in 1986 with Over 160 branches and over 220 ATMs island wide. Recently it has won the "Bank of the Year" award by "The Banker
The Banker
The Banker is an English-language monthly international financial affairs publication owned by The Financial Times Ltd. and edited in London...

" of Financial Times Limited – London, for the second consecutive year and the "National Business Excellence Awards 2010".
With the vision of "The Growing force in Sri Lankan Financial Services" it has become the third largest private sector bank in Sri Lanka with Rs. 125,960,000 deposits as year ended 31 December 2009.

History

The bank was originally incorporated as "Investment and Credit Bank Limited" in 1987 whilst Mr. N U Jayawardhana became the Chairman of the bank. The bank became popularly known as "Sampath". In 1988, Sampath Bank start to operate multi-point network of automated teller machines (ATMs) for the first time in the country, and the service became popular as "Sampath Electronic Teller" or "SET". Then, with the popularity of ATM banking introduced MasterCard
MasterCard
Mastercard Incorporated or MasterCard Worldwide is an American multinational financial services corporation with its headquarters in the MasterCard International Global Headquarters, Purchase, Harrison, New York, United States...

 (in 1989), PBU (Personal Banking Unit) and Uni-Banking System. The bank was the first to introduced "Debit Card
Debit card
A debit card is a plastic card that provides the cardholder electronic access to his or her bank account/s at a financial institution...

" in South Asia in 1997. The first ever Cheque Imaging & Truncating (CIT) site in Sri Lanka was launched by Sampath Bank in 2004. Since 2009, the bank is the third largest private sector bank in Sri Lanka in terms of total assets. Recently Sampath bank won the "Bank of the Year" award by "The Banker" of Financial Times Limited – London, for the second consecutive year and the "National Business Excellence Awards 2010".

Awards

  • 1996 : "Best Commercial Bank" of the Year 1996 by "Asiamoney
    Asiamoney
    Asiamoney is a financial publication established in 1989. It is a division of global media group Euromoney Institutional Investor PLC, itself majority owned by the London-based Daily Mail and General Trust Group....

    "
  • 1997 : "The Best Small-Cap Bank in South Asia" by "Asia Banking Digest"
  • 1997 : "Best Commercial Bank" of the Year 1997 by "Asiamoney"
  • 1998 : "Best Commercial Bank" of the year 1998 by "Asiamoney"
  • 1998 : "Outstanding New Business Venture Project in 1998" by "Asia Banking Digest"
  • 1999 : Listed under "300 Best Small Companies in the World" by "Forbes Global"
  • 2000 : "Bank of The Year 2000" by "The Banker" (First occasion to award to a Sri Lankan bank by "Financial Times Group")
  • 2004 : "Best HR Practice in the Service Category" at National HRM Awards 2004
  • 2005 : "Runner-up award in Best Presented Accounts" by “South Asian Federation of Accountants (SAFS)
  • 2005 : "Awards for Excellence in Annual Reports 2004" by “Institute of Charted Accounts Sri Lanka”
  • 2005 : "Best Corporate Citizen"
  • 2006 : "Best Economic Performance for the Year 2005"
  • 2005 : "Best Financial Application" by "Institute of Charted Accounts Sri Lanka"
  • 2005 : "Gold Award in Financial Category" by "Institute of Charted Accounts Sri Lanka"
  • 2005 : "Second Runner-up in Banking Sector for Business Excellence" by National Chamber of Commerce of Sri Lanka
  • 2008 : Placed among "The Top Ten Best Corporate Citizens" in Sri Lanka for the 4th consecutive year by "The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce"
  • 2008 : "Excellence in Best Performance Management Practices" by National Chamber of Commerce of Sri Lanka at "National Business Excellence Awards"
  • 2008 : "Brand Leadership Award" by "Asia Brand Congress, Mumbai, India"
  • 2009 : “Silver Award for the Overall Competition for National Business Excellence"
  • 2009 : Winner in Excellence in Business & Financial Performance Award
  • 2009 : "Bank of The Year 2009" by "The Banker of Financial Times –London"
  • 2009 : Corporate Responsibility award for 2009 (Best Corporate Citizen 2009)
  • 2010 : "Bank of the Year 2010" by "The Banker of Financial Times – London"

Growth

The first office of Sampath bank located at Wijewardhana Mawatha, Colombo 10 and later in 1997, it was moved to Sir James Peiris Mawatha, Colombo 02, Sri Lanka. At the end of the first year, the staff has 94 members.

The first ATM operated by the bank was installed in 1986 and at the end of year 2007 it crossed the 150 mark and now bank operating over 220 ATMs island wide.

In 1996, bank introduced the "Tele-banking" facility. This led to re-engineering of its IT induced banking technology in 1998 and "SampathNet" – Internet Banking facility launched on July 2000.
Now bank operates with total of 199 branches and 248 ATMs including 8 off-site ATMs.

Technology

Sampath Bank was the first bank in Sri Lanka to operate with fully computerized database and technologies since its birth in 1986. Sampath bank was the first to introduce "Automated Teller Machines" to Sri Lanka branded as “SET”, MasterCard, Personal Banking Unit Facility, Uni Banking System and Debit Cards (Initially with Cirrus
Cirrus (interbank network)
Cirrus is a worldwide interbank network operated by MasterCard Worldwide, and was founded in 1986. It links MasterCard, Maestro, Diners Club credit, debit and prepaid cards to a network of over 1,000,000 ATMs in 93 countries....

 and Maestro and Visa). After the massive re-engineering work done by the bank for its IT induced banking technology, the bank was able to launch Internet Banking, Internet Payment Gateways and mobile banking services which are on-line 24x7.
The Bank become the first in Sri Lanka to introduce "One Day Clearing" for all cheques drawn on any Sampath Bank branch, collected by any Commercial Bank in the islan & presented through Sri Lanka Automated Clearing House (SLACH). The first ever Cheque Imagine & Truncating (CIT) site in Sri Lanka was launched by the bank in October 2004.
Sampath Bank won a Gold and Merit Award at the National Best Quality Software Awards 2008 for the in-house category for developing the "Credit Approval System" (CAS) and "Electronic Money Transfer" (EMTS) application. It also honored at the National Science and Technology Awards 2008 for the category of "Local Developed New Technologies" which have resulted in a successfully Marketed Product/Service for the product "Sampath eRemittance System".

External links


Award for E-Content Application : Lanka Business Today Report

Best Corporate Citizen 2009 : Asian Tribune Report

Bank Of the Year: Invest Now Report
Sampath Bank Expansion : Report by Lanka Business Report
The Banker: Report
The Banker
The Banker is an English-language monthly international financial affairs publication owned by The Financial Times Ltd. and edited in London...

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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