BOC collects Rs 380m from IDPs

Bank of Ceylon upto last week have collected and deposited Rs 380 mln from the Internally Displaced Persons(IDPs), said Chairman BOC Dr Gamini Wickremasinghe He said that when the IDPs crossed over to government controlled areas they brought the jewellery and cash with them.

When the first batch of IDPs came to the government controlled area we as the state bank had to support them and started planning.

The bank converted five containers into mobile branches with online ATM machines as well as pawn broking and a host of other services.

Dr Gamini Wickremasinghe

He said that as soon as the people came the bank provided them with custodian services for their jewellery, valuables and documents free.In addition for people who wanted to pawn their jewellery the bank provided that service as well.

Dr Wickremasinghe said that the bank will recruit 30 qualified people from among the IDPs to work at the five branches which are located in the camps.

He said that already over eight have been recruited while the rest will be recruited in the coming weeks. As the recruits are from the camps they have no language barrier and they also can assist the staff. Most importantly they are occupied and happy.

In the event IDPs need to contact their relatives who are overseas the bank provides communication services also free. In addition the people are getting used to doing their banking transactions with the help of ATMs. Earlier they were reluctant as they were seeing all the technology after 30 years but now they have got used to it, said the chairman.

The bank has also provided eight mobile vans which go to the camps and assist the IDPs with their day to day banking. All money and gold jewellery collected will be deposited at the Branch in Vavuniya.

He said that during the initial period the deposits ranged between Rs 25-50 mln daily now the collection is about Rs one mln daily.

The bank will instal POS terminals once shops are opened This will help the customers to do their transactions in double quick time.

Once life gets back to normal and the people go back to their villages the bank will provide loans to start dairy farming, animal husbandry as well as a host of other businesses. For people who are obtaining loans for agriculture the bank will provide an insurance as well.The bank will also provide support to tertiary education institutes as well to provide professional courses such as CIMA and ICASL.

He said that secondary education in the North is very good. Therefore if the IT sector can attract investors to establish Business Process Outsourcing centers it will be a great opportunity for the youth of the region to find employment.He said the bank has 25 branches each in North and the East and have added 10 branches in each region within the last six months.

The bank has also taken steps to pay the salaries of all government servants who are in the camps.Dr Wickremasinghe assured that the bank will provide all assistance needed by the people to get back to their villages.

(SG)