The Commercial Bank of Ceylon recently conducted a Financial Literacy Programme for a group of micro entrepreneurs consisting of green leaf suppliers in the Ayagama area, in collaboration with the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL).

The Bank’s objective in conducting programmes of this nature is to enhance the financial literacy levels of micro entrepreneurs.

The resource person for the programme was Mr Rohitha Abeykoon, the Senior Assistant Director of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, who is an experienced speaker on financial literacy and business development.

The programme was attended by Commercial Bank’s Regional Manager Uva Sabaragamuwa region MrE. B.Sooriyaarachchi, Manager – Development Credit Department Mr Malika De Silva, the Bank’s Kalawana Branch Manager Mr D. S. S. Galpaya and other officials from the Bank.

Commercial Bank has also supported this customer segment with the launch of a Hybrid Debit Card cum Identification Card powered by Sony ‘FeliCa’ Near Field Communication (NFC) technology. This personalised card enables the automation of the calculation of payments to leaf suppliers. These payments are instantly transmitted to a central server by a data acquisition device, and then transferred to their savings accounts at Commercial Bank.

Commercial Bank has been conducting awareness programmes for micro entrepreneurs in different sectors of business in many areas of the country for the past eight years, and has helped more than 8,000 entrepreneurs to date through this programme.

These programmes are supported by the Bank’s 16 Agriculture & Micro Finance Units which play a key role in helping the Bank to identify specific needs of entrepreneurs who require assistance to develop either their agriculture activities or micro businesses. These units are dedicated to promote agriculture lending and micro finance.

Commercial Bank’s Agriculture & Micro Finance Units (AMFU) are located in Ratnapura, Narammala, Kandy, Anuradhapura, Kilinochchi, Bandarawela, Wellawaya, Hingurakgoda, Galewela, Achchuveli, Vavuniya, Kattankudy, Tissamaharama, Neluwa, Pottuvil and Akkaraipattu.

Photo caption:

Pictured here are Commercial Bank’s Regional Manager Uva Sabaragamuwa Region Mr E. B. Sooriyaarachchi (left) and the Senior Assistant Director of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka Mr Rohitha Abeykoon, addressing the audience, at the seminar.