7 March 2017 12:00 am
A strategic approach to sustainable business has won Commercial Bank of Ceylon a prestigious award at the Global Sustainability and CSR Excellence and Leadership Awards in Mumbai, India.
The country’s benchmark private sector bank received the award for ‘Developing Sustainable Strategies’ at these awards and was the only Sri Lankan corporate entity to be honoured at the event at Taj Lands End Hotel.
“Sustainability is one of the pillars of our business and every aspect of sustainability receives close attention at Commercial Bank,” Bank’s Managing Director/CEO Jegan Durairatnam said.
“We are focussed on sustainability indicators in our operations, in our business, particularly lending, in our engagements with the community and in our human resource management practices. We are therefore greatly encouraged by this award. The core business strategy of the bank has been aligned with the triple bottom line approach and is in sync with the needs of society, the development needs of the country as a whole, with the concerns of its employees and with the bank’s obligations to stakeholders.”
On the environment front, Commercial Bank has taken the initiative to reduce its carbon footprint through the establishment of green banking channels, comprehensive waste disposal systems, moving in to solar power and reduction of paper use through the digitisation of processes. The bank has also taken steps to develop green buildings for its branches and four more such branch buildings are to be constructed in 2017.
In 2015, Commercial Bank’s efforts to make its operations more eco-friendly were acknowledged internationally with the award for ‘Best Sustainability – Green Initiative’ at the Asian Customer Engagement Forum (ACEF) Awards in Mumbai. The only award presented by ACEF in the sustainability category, the award recognised the effectiveness of the bank’s initiatives to migrate customers from traditional banking channels to digital platforms such as mobile and online banking, as well as its investments in and efforts to promote automation to minimise the use of paper.