Commercial Bank’s ‘Arunalu’ rewards brightest Year 5 Scholarship winners
The Commercial Bank of Ceylon rewarded four students who achieved the first, second and third places in the island at the 2014 Year 5 scholarship examination, at a ceremony held recently with the objective of supporting their educational endeavours.
Conducted as part of the scholarship rewards program of ‘Arunalu’, the bank’s signature Children’s Savings Account, the presentation saw the student who achieved the highest marks, the student who scored the second highest marks and two students placed third island-wide being recognised for their academic excellence.
At the ceremony, W.A. Venuja Nimsath of Embilipitiya Junior Secondary School Embilipitiya was honoured for achieving the first place in the island, Malaka Nethmal Thilakarathne of Royal Primary School, Polonnaruwa was rewarded for obtaining second highest marks and Sahani Yasodara Gunasekara of Pitiyegedara Primary School, Bemmulla Gampaha, and Niswar Fathima Samah of Zahira National College, Mawanella were rewarded for the third highest marks they achieved. Apart from attractive cash prizes, the students were presented with valuable gift packs courtesy of Arunalu Children’s Savings Account.
“The Arunalu rewards scheme is a significant activity in the bank’s portfolio of annual commitments. It reflects the continuous effort by the bank to motivate students and reward them for their academic achievements,” said Commercial Bank Deputy General Manager – Marketing Hasrath Munasinghe.
In 2013, Commercial Bank’s Arunalu Children’s Savings Account paid Rs. 4 million in cash rewards to 575 students placed first, second and third in their respective schools at the Year 5 scholarship examination. This was in addition to nine students who were placed first, second and third in the island at the examination.
Under the revised Arunalu scheme announced by the bank in 2013, an account holder who is placed first in the island at the Year 5 scholarship examination receives up to Rs. 170,000 in monthly instalments of Rs. 2,000 each, until he or she turns 18 years of age. The students placed second and third in the island receive up to Rs. 127,500 and Rs. 85,000 respectively in monthly instalments of Rs. 1,500 and Rs. 1,000, until the age of 18 years if they are Arunalu account holders. Even if they are non-account holders of Arunalu, students who are placed first, second and third in the island are rewarded with attractive cash prices of Rs. 50,000, Rs. 35,000 and Rs. 25,000 respectively.
Additionally, ‘Arunalu’ account holders who are placed first, second and third in their respective schools receive cash prizes of Rs. 10,000, Rs. 7,500 and Rs. 5,000 each, in a continuation of the previous rewards scheme operated by Sri Lanka’s largest private bank, while all district winners receive Rs. 50,000 if they are Arunalu account holders, the bank said.
Launched in 1991, Arunalu has been Commercial Bank’s key savings account which caters to children of the school going age. In 1998 Commercial Bank was the first bank to introduce the year 5 Scholarship examination cash prize scheme with the intention of strengthening its enduring commitment to excellence in education.
Ranked the ‘Strongest Bank in Sri Lanka in 2014’ by The Asian Banker and the only Sri Lankan bank to be ranked among the Top 1000 banks of the world for four consecutive years, Commercial Bank is also the most valuable private sector brand in the country in 2014. The bank has won multiple awards as Sri Lanka’s best bank over several years, was adjudged one of the country’s 10 best corporate citizens by the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce in 2013 and has been rated the Most Respected Bank in Sri Lanka by LMD for the past 10 years. It has also been the second Most Respected Corporate entity in the country overall for the past four years in the LMD rankings, and has been rated No 1 in Sri Lanka for Honesty in 2013 and 2014 by the Magazine.
