The 90-minute webinar with inputs from expert panellists from Roar Digital, Good Market, and the Bank’s own Card Centre and Retail Products & Digital Channels Department included a question and answer session and was delivered through Zoom in both Sinhala and English.
Participant interaction was encouraged via chatbox and real-time messaging capabilities as the forum was streamed from the Bank’s Staff Development Centre auditorium.
A video of the forum is currently hosted on the Commercial Bank website, Facebook page and YouTube channel for anyone who would be interested to view it, the Bank said.
The webinar was designed to improve the digital literacy of SMEs and encourage them to go digital and face the challenges that emerged due to the pandemic in navigating their business operations.
The panellists for the webinar were Mr Udara Dharmasena, Vice President (Client Success) of Roar Digital - Facebook’s authorized Sales Partner (ASP) in Sri Lanka; Mrs Achala Samaradivakara, Co-Founder of Good Market - a curated Sri Lankan community platform and eMarketplace; Mr Pradeep Banduwansa, Commercial Bank’s Head of Retail Products & Digital Channels and Mr Asanka Krishan, Manager - Product Management Unit of the Commercial Bank Card Centre.
The forum was moderated by Commercial Bank’s Chief Manager SME Banking Unit Mr Mohan Fernando.
Mr Udara Dharmasena elaborated on the digital options available for SMEs, including the channels, platforms, and media available to take products and services to market.
After expounding on the benefits of using digital marketing tools, he also spoke about how the company could assist SMEs with their digital marketing ventures.
The Roar Digital session also included discussions on social media apps in the Facebook family, including WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger, and how to optimise their use in business.
After introducing Good Market and its success in the country, Mrs Samaradivakara discussed how the company moved into the virtual market space and enabled its vendors reach their customers through digital platforms.
She shared advice on how SMEs could shift to digital platforms and spoke on employing creative digital solutions that give entrepreneurs a competitive edge in their businesses in order to reinvent processes, improve quality, and promote consistency.
Commercial Bank’s Head of Retail Products & Digital Channels Mr Pradeep Banduwansa introduced digital banking tools available for SMEs and how they could benefit customers in the current context of the pandemic.
Elaborating on the procedures to obtain these facilities, he also spoke of the convenience of using ‘ComBank Digital,’ the Bank’s own digital banking solution offered through a responsive web application and two native mobile applications.
Meanwhile, Mr Asanka Krishan, Manager - Product Management Unit of the Commercial Bank Card Centre expanded on the Card products available with the Bank, benefits to SMEs including discounts, special rates and monthly repayment plans, and additional services that the Card Centre provides to assist SMEs in improving sales using digital platforms.
Sri Lanka’s first fully carbon neutral bank, the first Sri Lankan bank to be listed among the Top 1000 Banks of the World and the only Sri Lankan bank to be so listed for 11 years consecutively, Commercial Bank operates a network of 268 branches and 931 automated machines in Sri Lanka.
The Bank’s overseas operations encompass Bangladesh, where the Bank operates 19 outlets; Myanmar, where it has a Microfinance company in Nay Pyi Taw; and the Maldives, where the Bank has a fully-fledged Tier I Bank with a majority stake.