Sampath Bank honoured with National Tech Award

• Recognised for developing innovative online corporate financial payment platform

Sampath Bank Managing Director Aravinda Perera receiving the award from President Maithripala Sirisena. From left: President Sirisena, Perera, Sampath Bank Head of IT Ajith Salgado and Sampath Bank Senior Manager Systems Development Pasan Manukit

Sampath Bank, one of the country’s leading banks and a pioneer in innovative financial services, was recently honoured with the Technology Development and Application through Local Partnerships Award by the National Awards for Science and Technology Achievements (NASTA) in recognition of its online financial platform – Sampath Vishwa Corporate. President Maithripala Sirisena and the Minister of Highways and Investment Promotion Kabir Hashim presented this prestigious award to Sampath Bank at an awards ceremony recently held at the Presidential Secretariat. The award recognises Sampath Bank’s commitment to streamline business processes and financial transactions through the use of technology. The latter adeptly supports the objectives of the e-Government program under Sri Lanka’s e-development strategy. Moreover, Sampath Vishwa Corporate presents itself as a vital addition to a growing e-Government framework in the country, which aims to positively impact all sectors of the economy – and society at large – via Information and Communications Technology (ICT). Sampath Vishwa Corporate was entirely devised and developed by Sampath Bank in order to provide convenient e-banking solutions to corporate entities through a simple, effective and secure web-based platform. At present, Sampath Vishwa Corporate is the only corporate financial payment portal in the country. Designed specifically to simplify complex manual tasks, support supply chain management processes and increase the usage of electronic money, the platform allows corporate entities to securely perform a multitude of transactions. For example, a company that uses Sampath Vishwa Corporate will be able to pay salaries, insurance claims and EPF/ETF contributions and carry out other bulk payments with no hassle at all. Organisations can access and carry out transactions/payments from any location and this makes the life more convenient than ever before for the business heads responsible for financial transactions. For the convenience of recipients, all payments can be accessed on the web, through ATMs and at all banks. Sampath Vishwa Corporate stands out as it provides payment recipients the opportunity to receive payments to their mobile phones through ‘Mobile Cash’ facility, another revolutionary introduction by Sampath Bank. Further, Sampath Vishwa Corporate also extends payment recipients the convenience of withdrawing money from ATMs without even without an ATM card. It is worth noting that Sampath Vishwa Corporate has also been developed for seamless integration with government payment systems and ERP systems. The entire platform provides a holistic online financial solution for the corporate sector. In a brief statement after receiving the award, Sampath Bank Deputy General Manager Tharaka Ranwala said: “Sampath Bank has consistently strived to push the envelope with regard to innovative financial solutions. Sampath Vishwa Corporate is yet another ground-breaking initiative that will positively impact the corporate sector and underpin business operations around the country. It’s an honour to receive this award from NASTA because it recognises Sampath Bank’s commitment to develop financial solutions that make an invaluable contribution to the development of Sri Lanka.” NASTA is an award program with the objective of recognising institutions that have made outstanding contributions to the economy through the application of science and technology. The program operates under the National Science Foundation (NSF), which is a State-funded institution established by the Science and Technology Act No. 11 of 1994 and which functions under the authority of the Ministry of Technology and Research. As a leading bank in the country, Sampath Bank has consistently strived to spearhead the innovative use of technology in banking. In this regard, the primary objective of Sampath Bank is to use ICT in order to advance state-of-the-art financial services for all sectors in the country, thereby promoting the use of web-based financial solutions and supporting the national development objectives of the e-Government program.