Bankers unite for inaugural ’’Bankers on Bicycles’’ cycling event

DFCC Bank, Hatton National Bank, Nations Trust Bank and Sampath Bank PLC recently collaborated for the inaugural "Bankers on Bicycles" cycling event.

A first for Sri Lanka, "Bankers on Bicycles", seeks to promote a sustainable lifestyle by incorporating cycling into your life. Expected to be a monthly event, each participating bank intends to take turns hosting the activities, DFCC said in a media release.

The inaugural ride kicked off shortly on August 26, at DFCC Bank's Head Office in Colombo 03, with more than 150 participants representing the four participating banks in attendance. Participants included the CEOs and senior management of the four banks, along with a diverse range of cyclists representing all levels of staff, as the event was open to all staff members. This time, "Bankers on Bicycles" undertook a city circuit that took the cyclists to Dehiwala and back.

Commenting on the initiative, Aasiri Iddamalgoda, Senior Vice President Retail banking and SME at DFCC Bank said, "We introduced cycling to work as a lifestyle choice in 2020 during our 65th anniversary celebrations. Since then, we have regularly hosted cycling days for our staff and customers and made cycling infrastructure available for our customers, particularly at our Pinnacle Centre at Horton Place. Therefore, expanding this initiative within the banking industry is the natural growth we hoped for.”

Chiranthi Cooray, Deputy General Manager, Chief Human Resource Officer and Chief Transformation Officer at HNB, said, "We are very excited to continue cycling events and bring the industry together to promote a sustainable lifestyle, health and fitness among our staff and unite for common causes in friendship and camaraderie."

Lalith Weragoda, Chief Human Resource Officer at Sampath Bank sait it was an exhilarating experience. “Cycling is one of those activities that can be enjoyed alone but can also be taken to another level with a group, and what a wonderful group we have put together. This initiative has the potential to pay tremendous environmental benefits, and we are pleased to be a partner in this programme,” he said.

Chamila Sumathiratne, Chief Risk Officer at Nations Trust Bank, said, "Nations Trust Bank is proud to partner up with our peer banks for this timely initiative that promotes cycling as a healthier commute.”