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Lake House Printers and Publishers (LHPP) was appointed as the exclusive partner for all Near Field Communication (NFC) projects carried out by Channel 17 Ltd. recently, marking yet another milestone for the company.
Having proved its capabilities in the Sri Lankan market over the past eight years, LHPP is backed by MCT Cards India, a leading card manufacturer and solution provider.
A new entrant to retail loyalty market, CH17 pioneers state-of-the-art smart technology, exposing the multi-billion rupee retail business to unlimited possibilities in customer service.
LHPP was initially established as a security printing company in 1965, while the plastic cards division was launched in 2007. The company already commands an impressive 45% of the market share and produces all types of plastic cards.
Headed by LHPP Assistant General Manager Tony Johnpillai, who has been in the card industry for close upon two decades, and with the guidance of the Lake House Printers Management and Board, the cards division currently serves the banking, corporate, hospitality and State sectors, amongst others, boasting a client base that exceeds 200.
The product portfolio encompasses a wide range, from office identity cards to technology-driven Visa Master EMV/NFC cards.
MCT, a company within the Manipal Group of India, is the largest banking card manufacturer in India, certified by VISA and Master Card for manufacturing and personalisation of magstripe, EMV and NFC cards.
It has two certified facilities in Manipal and Mumbai which are the largest service providers in India for card manufacturing and personalisation and commands a 65% market share, serving over 50 major banks in India. It also has a strong presence in neighbouring countries, including Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bangladesh.
With a capacity of producing 700,000 cards per day and currently shipping out over six million cards per month, MCT serves Sri Lankan banks and corporates in partnership with its local partner, LHPP. While the Visa, Master and NFC cards are produced in India, card manufacturing and personalisation of non banking cards is carried out at the production plant in Sri Lanka.
Outlining the services and products offered by the LHPP cards division, Johnpillai noted that it has a wide product range, supplying all types of plastic cards – including identification, loyalty, privilege, insurance, banking, Visa, Master and the latest NFC card – and also supplies card personalisation machines, all types of raw materials for card manufacturing and card accessories.
“You can count on Lake House Printers and Publishers as your one-stop-shop for all your plastic card requirements and solutions,” asserted Johnpillai, who commenced his career in this field in 1995, at Sri Lanka’s very first card manufacturing company.
Having undergone overseas training at international card plants, he founded LHPP’s card division in 2007 and has taken it to great heights ever since, with the support of the management and his dedicated team.
The division serves sectors ranging from banking, health, insurance and hospitality to schools, telecoms and supermarket chains.
“We are backed by the leading card manufacturer which has an R&D team of 250 to support its Sri Lankan partner and our cards division consists of the latest technology to produce and personalise non-banking cards. Our dedicated workforce services the Sri Lankan market at the highest levels,” Johnpillai assured.
LHPP together with its partners is fully geared to cater to the evolving card industry in Sri Lanka and its future plans revolve around becoming one of the leading card suppliers in Sri Lanka while unfolding the highest service levels to its valued customer base and moving with the industry to new dimensions utilising the latest technology, Johnpillai added.
It took a while for Sri Lanka’s lucrative retail businesses to understand the realism of adapting to modern consumer trading concepts and understand the immense potential such a transformation would bring about to their bottom line.
The new outfit Channel 17 embarked on an ambitious welfare program focusing on the highly-energised apparel sector, which has become the blue-eyed industry of the Government as it churns out valuable foreign exchange on high note year after year.
CH17’s flagship program for the apparel sector – Ransalu Pranama – is an initiative of the Joint Apparel Association Forum (JAAF) and the Ministry of Industry and Commerce which have endorsed the program for the greater good of all those employed in the industry.
Under this program employees will be given price advantage on a number of essential consumer goods and services by CH17’s merchant base. Already 30,000 have been issued with these smart cards.
CH17 CEO Jumar Preena said that the response from the merchants was very encouraging. “Although NFC technology is new to our markets, most of the merchants have readily embraced this scheme as they see a lot of potential for growth in terms of customer relationship and loyalty management.”
Preena thanked Mobitel for readily joining this program and is now focused on further developing the new loyalty card concept among the general public. “We intend to add more facilities and value to the card, thereby making the card a virtual wallet,” Jumar emphasised.
“The Nucleus Privilege Card is the new loyalty card that’s going to surprise all; with this one card we plan to provide several facilities including bank services, insurance, travel and even mobile telecommunication services,” he added.
