LFSBL records seamless SWIFT operations with customary remote working protocol

LFSBL Chairman Lakshman Silva

LFSBL General Manager/CEO Mihindu Rajaratne

Lanka Financial Services Bureau Ltd. (LFSBL) is the SWIFT certified provider of the SWIFT shared infrastructures in Sri Lanka for the banking and financial community. It was established in 2007 to mitigate the costs of SWIFT transactions for the banking and financial community including the Central Bank of Sri Lanka. 

Amidst the global pandemic, LFSBL introduced the Remote Working Protocol (RWP) for its operations in 2019 to maintain seamless business continuity.  

The protocol was designed and developed to ensure that a ‘mission-critical’ operation like SWIFT connectivity was stable under extreme circumstances like prolonged curfew or adverse weather conditions and tested to withstand pressures that can result during such interruptions. 

The RWP consists of procedures, policies and working protocols for the entire operation without physically accessing the corporate office in the event of extreme circumstances and island wide lockdowns prevailing in Sri Lanka at present. 

The company has been continuously working since the first lock-down in March 2020, switching to the RWP, providing uninterrupted SWIFT connectivity adhering to the strict health guidelines provided by the authorities. 

LFSBL has also implemented a ‘set of guidelines’ for the RWP including a protocol on ‘Working from Home’, maintaining working psychology and team dynamics at optimum comfort level by guiding users to plan work with appropriate intermittent short intervals as per proven psychology practices.

The company has extended the Remote Working Protocols to finance, administration, and secretarial departments in 2021. With this service the majority of the critical operations have the capability to switch between ‘Physical Working Environment’ and ‘Remote Working Environment’ seamlessly, in the event of any lock-down/ physical closure of work premises, or travel restrictions during this global crisis.

Most businesses, corporates and even entrepreneurs had, until now, never prioritised remote working environments and related contingencies. RWP has been developed as a critical business solution by   incorporating ‘adaptive methodology’ for business continuity within a disruptive pandemic environment.

LFSBL has reached milestones in its HR practices by facilitating a conducive Remote Working Environment to their employees, continue the work in a comfortable domestic work setting, especially during a stressful homebound life during this pandemic.

LFSBL Chairman Lakshman Silva remarked that this was a tremendous effort which had worked well and continued to do well for the benefit of the larger financial community in Sri Lanka. 

LFSBL General Manager/CEO Mihindu Rajaratne noted that the positives of the disruptions had been leveraged as opportunities by the company to reach efficient and effective standards of business continuity by carving out the best possible combination of human resources and the available technology.

LFSBL invites organisations to make use of the consultancy/advisory services on designing, setting-up, implementing and sustaining, customised remote working environments for their operations for seamless business continuity.