24 July 2007
CIMA Sri Lanka Division is proud to announce preferential finance packages with American Express, Sampath Bank and Seylan Bank. The agreements have been designed to help CIMA students and members manage the financial investment of undertaking a professional qualification.
CIMA recognises that undertaking a professional qualification represents a significant financial investment for families; with this in mind CIMA has established preferential finance packages with three leading local banks to be made available to all CIMA members and students.
CIMA - The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants - is a leading membership body that offers an internationally recognised professional qualification in management accountancy, which focuses on accounting for business. The three banks collaborating with CIMA on this new initiative are American Express with Nations Trust Bank, Sampath Bank and Seylan Bank.
Nations Trust Bank has been operating in Sri Lanka since 1999 and is largely considered the fastest growing bank in the country. The bank has grown from strength to strength in the last five years growing organically and through strategic acquisitions and in August 2003 launched the American Express Credit Card in Sri Lanka as the sole issuer and acquirer in the country.
Mr Zulfiqar Zavahir, CEO of Nations Trust Bank commented:
"Nations Trust Bank is very pleased to partner CIMA in this initiative, which we feel would be of great value to CIMA students. The American Express Extended Settlement Plan offers students, members and parents the convenience of paying CIMA fees in six equal instalments. Furthermore, American Express Card members can enjoy the many privileges offered by AMEX worldwide."
Sampath bank was established in 1986 and became the first Sri Lankan organisation to achieve the CIMA "Quality Approved Status" of best practice, presented on 9 February 2001. The history of Sampath includes a number of firsts for Sri Lanka including the introduction of Mastercard being the first credit card in Sri Lanka and the first to launch the debit card in South Asia. Sampath Bank has recently obtained the prestigious Superbrand status for 2006 ' 2008, further emphasising its brand stability.
Mr Anil Amarasuriya, Managing Director of Sampath Bank remarked on the announcement:
'I'm extremely delighted to send this message on the launch of the CIMA subscription payment in instalments via Sampath Credit Cards. During the past Sampath Bank has partnered CIMA in several ventures which have given great benefits to CIMA members.
This new scheme will enable CIMA members to pay their subscriptions on an instalment basis using their Sampath Card. Moreover, our card holders could use this facility to pay their children's subscription and exam fees as well giving added value on our card.
As a highly acclaimed professional body CIMA has always strived to give the best to its membership. And as a bank committed to giving its customers value added solutions Sampath Bank can certainly take pride in this association.'
Seylan Bank was incorporated in 1987 and prides itself on being the heart of the banking sector in Sri Lanka. Its mission was to build a strong bank with equally strong subsidiaries serving the needs of all its customers within and outside Sri Lanka. In the 19 years since inception Seylan Bank has established a strong presence island wide through its Network of 116 branches.
Speaking at the launch, Mr Tissa Nanayakkara, Deputy General Manager of Seylan Card Centre, said: 'In order to assist and pave way for the younger generation of our country to head towards climbing the corporate ladder, we joined hands with CIMA Sri Lanka to make this a possible and successful venture.'
The finance package with each bank has been tailored to benefit CIMA students and members by offering low interest payment schemes on all CIMA registration, tuition and exam fees over an agreed period of time. Allowing one to manage and budget for costs over a period of time without having to face the high interest rates usually associated with payment plans.
The offer will be available to any student, member or parent who holds a Visa or Mastercard with Sampath Bank, Seylan Bank or an American Express credit card with Nations Trust Bank.
While these special rates for CIMA tuition only currently reside with the above three banks CIMA may consider proposals from selected banks in the future which could pave the way for further benefits being offered to students and graduates of the institute.
This represents just one of a number of initiatives CIMA will introduce this year in order to build up a portfolio of benefits for CIMA members. On speaking of this new venture CIMA Sri Lanka Divisional President, Aruna Fernando commented;
'CIMA's focus on employability brings our members high financial rewards. However, we are mindful that undertaking a professional qualification is a significant career investment. To facilitate this investment, we have worked with a number of banks to establish educational finance packages at concessionary rates. We recognise the decision to study a professional qualification is one of the most fundamental a person can make regarding one's future and we hope that with the introduction of finance plans such as these that CIMA has taken a step towards ensuring that the investment of all our students and members is well managed and includes an element of flexibility and choice.'
The launch of these finance packages took place at a press conference yesterday held at the Trans Asia Hotel, Colombo. CIMA students and members should contact CIMA Sri Lanka Division for detailed information on the offers available with each bank.
- ENDS -
For more information, please contact:
Jenita Foenander
Executive - Marketing & Promotions
CIMA Sri Lanka Division
Tel: 94 11 2503880 Ext. 225, Fax: 94 11 2503881
E-mail: Jenita.Foenander@cimaglobal.com
Notes to editors
1. CIMA (The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants) is the only international accountancy body with a sole focus on business. It is a world leading professional institute that offers an internationally recognized qualification in management accountancy, focusing on accounting in business, in both the private and public sectors. It is the fastest growing UK based accountancy body, in terms of members, in both the UK and worldwide and is the voice of over 87,000 students and 68,000 members in 158 countries. In Sri Lanka alone, there are more than 1700 members working in a variety of fields both in the private and public sector. CIMA students in Sri Lanka number more than 12,000.
2. CIMA prides itself on the commercial relevance of its syllabus, which is in tune with the activities of high performance organisations, and evolves continually to reflect the latest developments in global business. It is committed to upholding the highest ethical and professional standards of members and students, and to maintaining public confidence in management accountancy. For more information about CIMA, please visit http://www.cimaglobal.com/
24 July 2007070724