Lionel Galagedara - Deputy General Manager(Retail Banking), People's Bank
People’s Bank offers personal loans to customers with varying benefits, that can help to improve their quality of life and support their journeys of growth and prosperity. These personal loans incur a minimal risk, they are easy to obtain and can be used to support customers in their efforts to fulfill their personal goals and needs. Personal Loans can be used to make the dream of owning a car or home a reality, they can be used to invest in one’s education or can go towards celebrating a momentous occasion such as a wedding.
The People’s Bank ‘Pahasu’ Loan is one of the bank’s most popular loan options as it does not require customers to prove their exact purpose for wanting to obtain the loan. Instead, customers simply have to provide the required collateral (a personal guarantee or they can opt to take out a property mortgage) and the requested loan amount within the allocated repayment capacity will be provided.
People’s Bank also offers personal loans that are designed to support those who make significant contributions to the nation and society. The ‘Daya Viru Pranama’ loan is offered to members of the Armed Forces (including the Police and Civil Security Force) in need of some extra financial assistance and the ‘Guru Setha’ loan is specifically designed to support teachers. Offering personal loans to monthly salary earners is a high potential area of growth and an increasing amount of customers in the Government sector across the country, have turned to People’s Bank for financial assistance due to the bank’s offering of easy, reliable and practical loan options.
Commenting on the bank’s personal loans, Lionel Galagedara – Deputy General Manager, (Retail Banking) People’s Bank stated “Our valued customers often come to us seeking loans for a variety of needs, ranging from funding the building of their houses, the repairing of their homes, to buying vehicles, to buying household items such as furniture, for higher educational purposes and for weddings. Our loans are for monthly salary earners and are structured differently, to ensure that they are affordable and easy to obtain. Even tailor-made repayment plans can be arranged to suit the specific needs and budgets of customers.”
People’s Bank offers loans with a considerably low interest rate and the bank also offers a longer repayment period. Since most customers prefer a longer repayment period for loans, which ensures that monthly repayments are more manageable, most loans that the bank gives can be paid back in small amounts throughout a customer’s working career. Instead of undergoing unnecessary pressure and stress to pay back their loans in a short period of time, customer can opt to make repayments until the age of 55 or 60. Retired customers who receive a pension, can even opt to take out a loan until the age of 70.
Lionel Galagedera further added “When a customer comes to People’s Bank to take out a loan, we give that person, so much more than just the loan itself. We open a savings account for them, give them their own credit and debit cards, if they ask for a current account that can also be opened for them. We also strive to make their lives as easy as possible, by giving them the option of signing up for our digital facilities such as internet banking, mobile banking and the People’s Bank voice app. If a person is interested in taking out a loan, we always have a face-to-face chat with them and conduct an interview to gauge the scope of their requirement. Only after obtaining a thorough understanding of their needs, do we suggest the most beneficial loan for them. As a policy, we declare all of the costs involved before granting the loan.”
The team at People’s Bank also go the extra mile to ensure that each customer has a convenient and seamless banking experience. If a customer is unable to visit one of the bank’s branches, then a representative will visit the customer at work or at home, with all of the required documents. The loan can then be processed on the same day, ensuring that customers don’t have to undergo any unwanted hassle.
To support the bank’s digitalization drive, People’s Bank also offers customers who don’t have access to a smartphone, the option of taking out a loan along with an easy payment scheme, to purchase the smartphone of their choice. Customers can then use the smartphone to fulfill their personal communication needs along with their banking needs.
Recognizing the need to give back to the next generation of young leaders, People’s Bank also makes it as easy as possible for parents to take out a loan to support their children’s education. After completing their A-Levels, most students in Sri Lanka opt to attend private universities or technical colleges, or they go abroad for their studies. Educational loans can be used to pay for tuition fees and other expenses such as buying laptops or special equipment.
People’s Bank’s Auto Loans are also very competitive in comparison to loans offered by leasing companies in terms of interest rates, installments and terms and conditions. Larger personal loan facilities are also available at lower rates for professionals such as doctors, engineers, lawyers, accountants, surveyors, managers and lecturers.
People’s Bank takes great pride in serving the financial needs of Sri Lankans across the island and strives to empower individuals from all walks of life, enabling them to fulfil their dreams and goals. The bank offers a full range of financial services in the areas of personal, corporate and development banking, along with treasury and overseas banking services. People’s Bank is in the business of providing financial services that contribute to the quality of life, enterprise development and the overall upliftment of society via affordable, accessible and efficiently delivered solutions. People’s Bank has Sri Lanka’s largest branch network, with over 730 branches and over 400 ATM locations and Lanka Pay ATMs island-wide and the bank also offers mobile and internet banking amongst its facilities. The bank’s new digitalization drive will steer the bank into a new paperless era and will contribute towards its goal of running a more effective, environmentally-friendly and sustainable operation.
