Commercial Bank of Ceylon
Demand for premium banking services is mounting in Sri Lanka, one of the emerging world’s fastest-growing economies. Most banks offer some sort of premium product, but no one does it better than Commercial Bank of Ceylon.
The journey for affluent customers starts with them depositing a minimum of SLRs7.5 billion (nearly $50,000) in a savings or fixed deposit account at the lender’s Elite Banking branch on Gregory’s Road in Colombo, a stone’s throw from the capital’s racecourse and cricket club. This grants them access to changing rooms, safe lockers and state-of-the-art meeting rooms. A dedicated relationship officer is on hand to discuss investment opportunities, while customers have access to special health-screening packages, an exclusive global health policy, home loans, leasing offers, a travel concierge, discounted banking charges and fees as well as help and advice on foreign currency transfers.
True, its premium-banking offering remains relatively small – as befits a nation still classified by index provider MSCI as a frontier market – but it’s growing fast. CommBank’s Elite Banking deposit base grew 23% year on year in the 12 months to the end of September 2017. The division has more than 1,000 customers; total deposits are SLRs12.8 billion and advances are more than SLRs680 million, according to bank data.