Seeking to meaningfully enhance lifestyles leveraging new technologies, Sri Lanka’s most digitally innovative bank, HNB PLC, announced the launch of HNB FIT savings accounts, a trailblazing new product that enables customers to save more simply by exercising more.

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A first in the Asian region, the HNB FIT savings account essentially works by using fitness trackers to measure the number of steps a customer takes each day, and based on how many steps they take, provide customers with a daily incentive on their basic interest rate of up to 10 percent per annum.

As a result, customers who are able to take over 6,000 steps a day will receive an incentive interest rate of eight percent per annum for that day, while customers who take in excess of 10,000 steps will receive an outstanding interest rate of 10 percent.

“I’m sure many of us can relate to the difficulty of not just starting, but actually maintaining a regular exercise routine. Especially in today’s fast-paced, digitally-driven world, it is often difficult for us to strike a balance between our personal, professional and social lives. Yet it is precisely for that reason personal health and wellness takes on an increasingly important role. “With the launch of HNB FIT Savings Accounts, our goal is to help our customers to more easily achieve this balance by adding what we feel has been the missing ingredient – incentive. FIT stands for: Fitness, Interest and Technology. By merging these three ingredients, we have created a path for those who dedicate themselves to a target to immediately receive tangible benefits in the form of significantly increased savings. In that regard we are confident that we can inspire and empower our customers to take control of their fitness and make their lifestyles work for them,” HNB Managing Director/CEO Jonathan Alles said.

While fitness trackers have been available since the early 2000s, it was only with the more recent advent of affordable devices featuring greater connectivity devices such as the FitBit, Apple Watch and Jawbone UP devices have begun to achieve commercial popularity both internationally and in Sri Lanka.

The rising popularity of such devices can also be tied to a growing fitness and wellness culture in Sri Lanka according to HNB DepositsSenior Manager Viranga Gamage. “With the opening up of public spaces across the country where people can now go to exercise, and a rising per capita income, Sri Lankans of all ages are becoming more aware of the need to balance their work and their recreation with healthy eating and regular exercise. In that regard, the launch of HNB FIT has been timed to capitalise on the emergence of these trends, and also to add greater momentum to them in order to be more physically and financially secure. The days of walking for free are now over, in the best possible way,” he asserted.

Adding further support to the launch of HNB FIT savings account, the bank also announced that it had partnered with leading local e-commerce platform, wow.lk to offer exclusive discounts on selected fitness devices. Further, any purchase of these devices made through a HNB credit card could be converted into a six or 12-month installment plan at zero percent interest with discounts of up to five percent.