Sanjay Wijemanne, Deputy General Manager, Retail Banking of HNB exchanging the Memorandum of Understanding with Rev Fr Sudath Gunetileke, Rector - Loyola College, Negombo, Also in the picture are (L - R) - H. D Rathnasara, Teacher , Loyola College, K V S Fernando, Teacher, Loyola College, Jude Fernando, Deputy General Manager, SME & Midmarket, Asitha Fernando, Asst Manager, Employee Banking, Supun Dias, Head of Business Development and Dumini Abeyratne Boyagoda, Executive, Employee Banking all of HNB
HNB will partner Loyola College, Negombo as the main sponsor and official banker for the “Loyolian Walk IV “ - titled ‘Loyolian Legends Lead’ which will culminate in a mini fair to be held this coming Sunday - 3rd February 2019.
The partnership Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed by HNB’s Deputy General Manager, Retail Banking, Sanjay Wijemanne and Rev Father Sudath Gunetileke, Rector of Loyola College Negombo.
Situated in Negombo, the school's celebratory event is scheduled to be held from 12 noon to 12 midnight at the school premises and is anticipated to be attended by students, parents and past pupils. The celebrations will commence with a holy mass at 12 noon, followed by a 5 kilometre walk across Negombo suburbs which is to end at the school at 3 p.m.
Sanjay Wijemanne, HNB’s Deputy General Manager, Retail Banking said "It is a privilege for us to support the Loyolian Walk as they celebrate their 70th year. We congratulate the school on 70 glorious years of education and commit to deepening our engagement with them.
Wijemanne noted that a particular focus area would be the introduction of new technology-enabled banking services to the school and students. HNB will open a student banking unit which will be overseen by a past pupil. The banking unit will also introduce new systems such as streamlining the collection of school fees through a Payee partnership plus manage staff salaries, EPF and ETF remittances as well as supplier payments through HNB Payfast. The array of HNB services will also include the introduction of its SmartPay card so that the school would have a comprehensive banking proposition that will be convenient and less time-consuming.
“The HNB SmartPay card is innovative and will serve the dual purpose of an attendance recorder as well as to purchase books from the school's bookshop and food from the school's canteen. Students will be initiated in cashless transactions, which is the future of banking” summed up Wijemanne.
Loyola College Negombo has produced a number of reputed alumni with many students excelling in national and international competitions in both education and sports. Loyola College is home to 2500 students and an academic staff of 130.
Operating through 251 customer centres across the country, HNB was recognised by the prestigious Banker Magazine as one of the Top 1000 banks in the world and is also the highest ranked local bank in this listing. HNB has also been adjudged Best Retail Bank 2018 by The Asian Banker Magazine in addition to being declared Best SME Bank, Best Digital Bank and the Best Cash Management Bank in Sri Lanka at the Asiamoney Awards 2018.
Over the recent past HNB was also named by Euromoney as the Best Corporate Cash Management Bank in Sri Lanka for 2018, in addition to being awarded Best Retail Bank and Best Micro Finance Bank at the International Finance Awards 2018 and being ranked among the Most Admired Companies in Sri Lanka by the International Chamber of Commerce and Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA).
