The Association of Professional Bankers – Sri Lanka (APB) brought together 25 teams from 14 banks in Matara for its 2026 Regional Quiz Challenge, combining industry knowledge, continuing professional development and peer engagement in a single programme for bankers in the Southern Province.
Held at Sanaya Mansion Hotel, the event reflected a practical priority for the profession: ensuring that access to learning, industry dialogue and professional networks extends beyond Colombo. For regional bankers, the program offered a platform to test technical and current-affairs knowledge, exchange perspectives and build relationships across institutional boundaries.
That regional emphasis is consistent with APB’s wider mandate. Established in 1988 as a common professional forum for Sri Lanka’s banking community, the association promotes professional standards, ethical conduct, knowledge sharing and collaboration across licensed banks and other recognised financial institutions. Taking its annual quiz outside the capital helps translate that national mandate into broader participation.
After a keenly contested competition, Bank of Ceylon A Team was named champion. Sampath Bank A Team secured first runners-up honours, while Hatton National Bank placed second runners-up. APB President Dilshan Perera presented the awards and the trophies.
The competitive element was paired with APB’s monthly Continuing Professional Development program, delivered at the same venue to make the learning opportunity readily accessible to bankers in the province. The format-combining structured learning with peer interaction-mirrors established professional-development practice, in which relevant content, practitioner insight and professional networks reinforce one another.
The session was conducted by Shehan Kumar and focused on personal branding-an increasingly important capability for banking professionals whose effectiveness depends not only on technical competence, but also on credibility, clarity of communication and the ability to build trusted relationships.
The Matara program forms part of a broader APB agenda to strengthen capability across the sector. Its public program includes technical sessions on issues such as financial crime, fraud prevention and digital banking; flagship conventions that convene regulators, senior bankers and subject specialists; and partnerships intended to expand professional learning and knowledge exchange. APB has also strengthened its institutional reach through a network of bank coordinators who connect its programmes with professionals across participating banks.
By bringing these opportunities to the regions, APB is doing more than staging an annual competition. It is creating a wider professional community-one in which bankers can continue learning, share experience and contribute to stronger standards across Sri Lanka’s financial sector.