Bank of Ceylon takes Gold Award as overall winner at LankaPay Technnovation Awards

Bank of Ceylon General Manager D.M. Gunasekera receiving the gold award for the overall winner at the LankaPay Technnovation 2017 from CBSL Governor Indrajit Coomaraswamy

Sri Lanka’s first and only payment technology innovation awards, LankaPay Technnovation Awards 2017, awarded the Bank of Ceylon as the overall Gold winner for ‘Excellence in Interbank payments’ recently.

The was following the bank being selected as No. 1 for the highest number of awards, overall year on year revenue growth of all clearing products in rupee terms, total number of products connected to the LankaPay network, honouring financial commitments on time by settling the dues within the credit period and finally for operational expertise leading to the least number of adjustments.

This was yet another No. 1 award for the No. 1 bank in the country, for its capacity to handle a massive transaction volume efficiently. The event was organised to recognise banks and non-banking financial institutions that have been steadfast to the cause of using innovating technology to promote digital transactions and that have excelled in this endeavour. 

The event was held at the Kingsbury Colombo. Central Bank of Sri Lanka Governor Dr. Indrajit Coomaraswamy was the Chief Guest and the Guest of Honour was Embassy of Japan in Sri Lanka Counsellor/Deputy Head of Mission Koji Yagi.

The Bank of Ceylon bagged two other category Gold awards in ‘Bank of the year for financial inclusivity’ (Category A) based on highest aggregate growth volume from CAS/SAS, CCEFT, SLIPS, CITS, USD drafts, and USD online also in ‘Bank of the Year for customer convenience’ (category A) for achieving the highest total volume growth compared to previous year from SLIPS, CAS, CEFT. 

Winners were selected through a very keen process where every participant who represented either a banking institution or a financial institution would be taken through a stringent marking against a set criteria defined and communicated at the commencement of the competition. 

The selection was based on the inter-bank transactions carried out, value and volume, during the period from 1 April 2016 to 31 March 2017. The panel of judges comprises renowned personals in the country’s financial industry. Participants represented a majority of service providers in the banking and financial sector in Sri Lanka. 

“Being the No. 1 bank in the country certainly gives a lot of weight in support of this award as the overall winner at – LankaPay Technnovation Awards 2017. In terms of operational capacity and efficiency in handling massive volumes, what the bank has achieved today is unmatchable. Improvising in response to current needs of the country BOC expanded its horizon boundlessly through digital transformation that enabled all Sri Lankans to enjoy the convenience of banking thus promoting financial inclusion,” stated Chairman President’s Counsel Ronald C. Perera. 

“Being the highest contributor to the common ATM switch operated by Lanka Clear Ltd., with over 733 ATMs and state-of-the-art ‘SmartZones’ spread across the country, BOC has been contributing to break geographic barriers and penetrating into every socio-economic segment in the country fulfilling its commitment to provide seamless banking facilities to every Sri Lankan 24 hours a day,” stated General Manager D.M. Gunasekera.