STRATEGIC PARTNERS
December 27, 2001
SRI LANKA -- Bank of Ceylon (BoC) and People's Bank, the two state banks of Sri Lanka, have teamed up to provide ATM facilities to the universities in the country in order to benefit some scholarship recipients, according to a report in the Sri Lanka Daily News.
The two banks have launched this program in collaboration with the Ministry of Higher Education and Information Technology, University Grants Commission and the Mahapola Trust Fund.
By the end of September, the two banks will install ATMs in six universities. The Bank of Ceylon will install the ATMs in Peradeniya, Sri Jayawardhanapura and Moratuwa universities while the People's Bank will install them in Colombo, Ruhuna and Kelaniya universities. Other universities will receive ATMs later.
Secretary of Higher Education and Information Technology R.P. Gunawardena told the Sri Lanka Daily News that discussions are under way to set up a common ATM branch network including both public and private sector banks. Bank of Ceylon and People's Bank have already agreed to issue common ATM cards for the university students.
A. Sarath de Silva, general manager of the Bank of Ceylon, said his company has invested 25 million rupees in this program. The bank will provide an initial deposit of 100 rupees to open savings accounts for students with Mahapola scholarships. He said the bank's goal is to familiarize a target population of around 25,000 university students with the use of ATM cards and create a new market segment for the bank.
