Sampath Bank PLC recently entered into a strategic partnership with SDB Bank whereby customers of SDB can gain access to Sampath Bank’s branch network and cash/cheque deposit kiosks, enabling greater convenience and accessibility to new services, thereby driving greater financial inclusion. This partnership goes on to showcase how the convergence of a licenced specialized bank and a licenced commercial bank can create synergies, in line with the Central Bank of Sri Lanka and Government’s vision of consolidation within the banking industry.

The agreement, signed at the Sampath Bank Head Office in Colombo, seeks to develop a long-term partnership between both banks and their customers with Sampath Bank playing the role of a secondary participant to SDB Bank for SLIPS and CEFTS Settlements as the first phase of the Cash Management Solution (CMS). As a truly progressive financial institution, Sampath Bank has always sought to form key alliances that deliver value to Sri Lankans across the island and will seek to replicate this model across several industries and verticals. This forms the backbone of the Bank’s long-term vision for its Cash Management function, whereby optimization of processes will be driven, leading to gains to its bottom line.

The key merits of this partnership are that SDB Bank customers will now have access to Sampath Bank’s branch network comprising 228 branches including 13 Super Branches, 465 cash deposit kiosks, allowing them to carry out specific banking services such as cash/cheque depositing and loan repayments, among others. SDB Bank will benefit by being able to offer its customers an entirely new portfolio of modern banking products and services, thus creating greater customer satisfaction and loyalty, while Sampath Bank will be able to reach hitherto untapped customer markets, helping businesses and individuals in those areas to grow.

Speaking about the partnership Halin Hettigoda, Head of Deposit Mobilization, Sampath Bank PLC, said, “We are very proud to enter into this historic agreement with SDB Bank and congratulate them on the bold steps taken to create powerful operational synergies and an enhanced value proposition for their customers. Furthermore, the fact that they were so willing to partner with us, despite Sampath Bank being a larger operator, speaks volumes to the trust and confidence they have in us and the strength of our relationship.”

Thilak Piyadigama, CEO, SDB Bank, said, “This extension of our long-standing relationship with Sampath Bank will offer several benefits to our customers including centralization and improved management of payments and collections together with improving returns on liquidity. We are very excited about the potential of this innovative solution which will allow us to take that next step of delivering higher value services to all customer segments while streamlining our processes for the convenience of our employees.”

Through its total cash management solutions, Sampath Bank seeks to develop tailor-made solutions that bring together the relevant elements of its cash management portfolio such as cash and cheque collection, cheque printing and distribution, investment portfolio management, business debit cards, data validation, reconciliation services, integration to customer ERPs and sweeping and pooling of funds. This is expected to help customers around the island manage their cashflow more efficiently, reduce processing costs, save time and mitigate risk, thereby allowing business owners and managers to concentrate their efforts and resources on building core competencies and growing the business.

Sampath Bank is a 100% local bank that has deeply rooted itself in the hearts of the people of Sri Lanka. Established in 1987, the bank has become a state-of-the-art financial institution that continues to be a market leader today thanks to its constant innovation and customer focused approach to business. It has introduced many firsts to the Sri Lankan banking sector including the introduction of ATMs to Sri Lanka, extended banking hours and slip-less banking to name a few. The Bank continues to steadily transform itself into a technology-driven financial services provider whilst keeping true to local traditions and values.

Image Caption: Nanda Fernando, Managing Director, Sampath Bank PLC (6^th from right) exchanges the partnership agreement with Thilak Piyadigama, Chief Executive Officer, SDB Bank.

The others in the picture are (from left) for SDB Bank, Rajitha Thoradeniya, Head of Branch Operations; P. K. Enoka, AGM - Head of Treasury; Saman Samarakoon, DGM - Technology and Operations; Terrance Kumara, DGM - Chief Financial Officer and Tamarika Rodrigo, DGM - Company Secretary. For Sampath Bank are Tharaka Ranwala, Senior DGM - Operations/Group Chief Marketing Officer; Lasantha Senaratne, Company Secretary; Halin Hettigoda, Head of Deposit Mobilization; Janaka Jayawickrama, Senior Manager – NSC and Taamara de Silva, Fund Manager.