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| Sunday, 14 August 2005 |
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BoC mulls more benefits for NRFC account holders by L.S.A. Wedaarachchi The Bank of Ceylon (BoC) is exploring the possibility of granting more benefits to its Non Resident Foreign Currency (NRFC) account holders. The international division of the Bank of Ceylon has already informed its NRFC account holders that a bonus interest scheme in addition to the normal interest paid to NRFC account holders will be paid from October 1, this year instead of the Insurance scheme which will be withdrawn from September 30, 2005. A survey conducted by the Bank of Ceylon revealed that the majority of the NRFC account holders have not enjoyed the full benefits under the insurance scheme. Rs. 30 million is spent annually by the Bank of Ceylon for the insurance scheme. The Bank of Ceylon will implement the new scheme utilising Rs. 30 million to give direct benefits through a special bonus interest scheme to NRFC account holders. At present 1.5 million Sri Lankans are living or working abroad and 80 per cent of them are in the Middle East. The Bank of Ceylon which was the first bank to commence NRFC accounts for Sri Lankan migrants 28 years ago, enjoys a market share of 33 per cent of the total foreign currency deposits of all commercial banks operating in Sri Lanka. The Bank of Ceylon is on record that 60 per cent of the total inward remittance are channelled to it. The Bank of Ceylon encourages migrant workers to open foreign currency and Rupee Savings accounts prior to their migration. The initial deposit of Rs. 200 for Etera Tilina Rupee account and US$ 5 for NRFC accounts will be gifted by the Bank of Ceylon to migrant workers who produce the relevant documents. This transaction can be effected through any branch of the Bank of Ceylon. The account numbers of the bank accounts will be given promptly to customers, encouraging them to save and manage wisely what they earn abroad. The Bank of Ceylon recently announced an increase of interest rates for US dollar fixed and savings accounts from August 1. The Bank of Ceylon has also introduced "BoC e cash", a new web based electronic fund transfer service for Sri Lankan migrants. Non financial benefits such as free advice services, training facilities for migrant workers and offering handbooks on the Arabic and Korean languages are also expected to be made available to migrant workers, by the Bank of Ceylon, in the near future. |
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