Given the nature of business we conduct, it is incumbent on us that we as a Bank, behave, operate and live according to the highest morals. Had we not been a bank, nothing would have changedā¦for our ethos has been rooted since inception, in solid moral and ethical terrain.
This segment is all about acting responsibly and with the highest of ethics.
The Bank is scrupulous in ensuring that product design, advertisement and promotion with all its attendant material does not infringe or plagiarize, either knowingly or unknowingly, the intellectual property of another entity. All material we produce is registered with relevant authorities who safeguard National Intellectual Property rights. We thus affirm that such work is unique to the Bank and their rights are owned by the Bank.
We ensure that the products and services of the Bank are not detrimental to the safety and health of our customers.
The Bank has not transgressed in this respect neither has it experienced any incidents of non-compliance with regard to regulations or voluntary codes pertaining to the health and safety impact of any of our products or services during the year under review.
Further, there were no fines imposed or paid by the Bank for non-compliance with laws and regulations concerning the provision and use of products and services during 2012.
Also the Bank ensures, it provides all necessary information to customers about the products and services offered by the bank by way of,
The Bank's staff are fully apprised of products and services through product manuals and operations manuals. Staff can also contact the Operations Department of the Bank to receive additional instructions should they require it, to offer information and service to customers.
There were no incidents of non-compliance with regulations or voluntary codes pertaining to product/service information and/or labelling during the year.
Customer Satisfaction is a vital barometer of the Bank's performance. The results of customer satisfaction audits by independent research authorities are carried out on an annual basis in addition to bi-annual corporate brand health measurements.
The objectives of the Bank's customer satisfaction survey are - to assess the needs, requirements and expectations of customers; to assess current satisfaction levels amongst the Bank's customers against key expectations; to determine the relative impact of each of these expectations on the overall loyalty of the customer; to provide strategic direction for improvement in critical areas and to identify opportunities to be leveraged and to provide a baseline for future progress monitoring.
The measurement was carried out through a questionnaire with a sample size of over 1,100 respondents across all regions. Randomly selected Savings and Loan customers of the Bank and five other competitor banks were contacted through a quantitative questionnaire.
The conceptual framework in determining customer satisfaction was done through four key spheres, namely transactions and experience, perception and attitudes, loyalty and the ultimate linkage of these aspects to business success. This framework provides a reliable basis for understanding the determinants of customer satisfaction and identifying key priorities towards achieving higher levels of customer commitment and loyalty.
The findings are thereafter categorized into critical improvement areas, secondary improvement areas and strengths to be leveraged to impart enhancement or improvement into different process areas such as savings account opening, branch ambience, other channels (such as ATM operations, Online Banking), impact of communications among others.
Customer Satisfaction Research is conducted once a year.
However, in Bangladesh as the current customer base of the Bank is comparatively small, it enables the Bank to have a better customer interaction at the branch level and receive immediate feedback. Further, the interactions with customers at other formal and informal forums provide the opportunity to the Bank to understand the level of customer satisfaction.
Commercial Bank advocates marketing communication in two forms; namely, External Communication and Internal Communication.
External communication supports the Bank in pursuing the overall goals as described in its Vision and Mission and Corporate Plan. Customer relations (branding, product and service lead marketing) and investor relations (corporate name recognition, Commercial Bank as top-rated institution) play a vital role in the external marketing aspects, while also promoting the overall knowledge and awareness of Commercial Bank among different stakeholders, providing factual, accurate and timely information to the public through the news media and its online channels.
The main goal of the Bank's internal communication is to support the organization in achieving the overall goals as specified in the Bank's Vision, Mission and Strategy whilst strengthening the organisational culture and feeling of commitment among the staff where they act as a key medium in reaching other stakeholders.
The Bank always follows the guidelines of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka and other authorities when creating and placing advertisements. The Bank ensures that all ethical standards of advertising are strictly followed to avoid overpromising and misleading customers whilst the communication is done in the most transparent manner.
Further, the Bank always obtains necessary local authority approvals and strictly adheres to the laid down rules and regulations on display materials, sounds, branding etc. when conducting promotions and follows laid down policies and procedures with regard to marketing communications to ensure accuracy, timeliness and uniformity of such communication.
Whilst the content of all marketing communications material adheres to corporate and information security policies reflecting the corporate image and branding of the bank, the Bank also ensures that no aspect of the communication (content) consists of racial bias or inappropriate imagery and data.
The Bank also guarantees that the said material does not expose the institution to any litigation and ensures the utmost quality in conceptualization and production at all times.
There were no incidents of non-compliance with regulations and voluntary codes concerning marketing communications, including advertising, promotion and sponsorship during the period under review. (PR 7)
As reported earlier safeguarding the customer's privacy is of fundamental importance to the Bank and its governance structure ensures that every effort is made to ensure that its people and internal controls systems strictly adhere to the Secrecy Policy. There were no substantiated complaints regarding breaches of customer privacy and loss of customer data during the reporting period.
The Bank did not encounter any legal action for anti-competitive behaviour, anti-trust and monopolistic practices during the year 2012. Further, the Bank always obtains necessary local authority approvals and strictly adheres to laid down rules and regulations concerning display materials, audio/video materials, branding among other factors, when conducting marketing or sales promotional activities.
The Bank was not subject to any fines or sanctions during the year for breach of laws and regulations.
The Bank has not been involved in, nor been party to, any instance of non-compliance with environmental standards; thus, it was not called upon to pay fines or accept any non-monetary sanctions for non-compliance with environmental laws and regulations.
The following Reports included in the Annual Report provide assurance in this regard:
Description |
Annual Report of the Board of Directors |
Statement of Directors' Responsibility |
Managing Director's and Chief Financial Officer's Responsibility Statement |
Although there are pending legal actions initiated against the Bank, none of these are environmental related. The details on 'Litigation against the Bank' are given in Note 49 to the Financial Statements.