BoC marks Children's Day

This year's theme for World Children's Day 'Protect children from child labour - extend social protection for children' identifies the need to protect children from the evil that prevails in society against children specially violence and child labour.

It is the responsibility of the people in the country to safeguard children and also take care of elders as we observe Children's Day and Elders' day which fell on October 1.

The Bank of Ceylon (BoC) has launched an array of banking products and services to cater to the various needs of children.

Ran Kekulu is a children's savings account which focuses on building a secure future for the child. It offers a range of financial and non-financial benefits.

It provides an additional 1% interest and offers the account holder hospitalisation and medical insurance charges up to Rs. 100,000 that covers 10 critical illnesses.

An insurance cover up to a maximum of Rs 500,000 is available for the depositor who opens the account. The depositor is eligible for an insurance cover to a maximum of Rs. 1 million if he or she maintains multiple Ran Kekulu accounts depending on the account balance.

Two thousand scholarships worth Rs. 10,000 each are granted annually to Ran Kekulu account holders who are successful at the Grade 5 scholarship examination.

A minimum balance of Rs. 5,000 maintained in a Ran Kekulu account qualifies the account holder for most of the privileges.

This year the BoC conducted an art competition for BoC Ran Kekulu account holders to mark the bank's 75th anniversary. The competition was held under four categories.

The winner of each category will be offered a trip to Disneyland.

The competition was organised in two stages. All paintings will be displayed at provincial level and first, second and third places will be selected from each category.

For senior citizens, the bank has introduced the BoC Abhimana Savings Account and 'The Senior Citizen's Fixed Deposits' with higher interest rates.