Bank of Ceylon (UK) digital transformation roadmap take-off with Ifinity Global partnership

Team Ifinity Global, Team BOC UK, Team RemitONE

Bank of Ceylon (UK) Ltd. (BOC UK), the only financial institution with a Sri Lankan heritage in the United Kingdom, celebrating its 75th anniversary next year has partnered with Ifinity Global to embark on a significant digital transformation initiative. 

This innovative collaboration aims to redefine banking experiences and strengthen BOC UK’s presence in the UK by transforming its traditional banking environment into a digital banking ecosystem revolutionising the way it would do banking in the future. 

BOC UK was established in 1949 as the first overseas branch of the Bank of Ceylon and then in 2010 became a wholly-owned subsidiary bank authorised and regulated by the Prudential Regulatory Authority (PRA) and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has launched its ambitious plans to capitalise on its presence in London, the second-largest fintech hub in the world, and Europe’s fintech epicentre. The digital transformation roadmap objectives will ultimately transform the bank into a digital bank with an open banking architecture. The first milestone of the journey is to introduce a money remittance mobile application to facilitate thousands of Sri Lankan expatriates living across the UK to remit money to Sri Lanka. The dynamic, user-friendly money remittance application will bring much-needed convenience and enhanced security, building confidence in the users and encouraging them to use trusted banking channels for their remittance transactions.  

BOC UK has played a pivotal role in providing banking services to retail and SMEs in the UK, correspondent banking and treasury services to the parent bank and other correspondence banks, and trade services to UK and Sri Lanka businesses. Last year, the bank facilitated over GBP 10 million in inward remittances to Sri Lanka, channelling much-needed foreign currency via its remittance services. During the recent economic turmoil, the bank continued to support trade transactions by adding confirmation to LCs issued by most of the Sri Lankan banks to help the Sri Lankan economy. Further, BOC UK was able to channel more than $ 60 million as bilateral funding swap arrangements. The bank has also helped a few Sri Lankan businesses and entrepreneurs to expand their business into the UK and European markets by helping to set up business and banking services.      

The bank has onboarded Ifinity Global as its transformation project implementation partner. This valuable collaboration will expand Ifinity Global’s reach into the UK market enhancing its global footprint as a trusted digital transformation partner. For Singapore-based banking IT services company Ifinity, this venture provides an opportunity to expand its expertise to a new market and create innovative solutions to evolving customer demands. Ifinity has established its presence in Singapore, Bangladesh, Cambodia, and Indonesia. This collaboration provides them with a deep dive into the latest banking and Fintech innovations in one of the key technology markets in the world.

At the recent launching ceremony of the bank’s digital transformation roadmap, BOC UK CEO and Executive Director Aruna Kumara expressed his views, “This is a significant step in the bank’s futuristic approach to deviate from its traditional banking model and to become a fully digital bank focused on digital product offering to its valuable clients, increase its market share, and establish its footprint in the ever-evolving technology ecosystem in the United Kingdom. The bank has delivered exceptional results this year and demonstrated its ability to operate in the UK independently. The planned digital transformation will only strengthen its business model going forward.” 

Speaking at this event NCINGA and Ifinity Global Group Chairman Imal Kalutotage stated, “We believe that BOC UK has the courage, passion, and visionary leadership required to undertake a groundbreaking project such as this. We are committed to helping BOC UK realise this ambitious roadmap as it aligns with IFINITY’s mission of making banks intelligent, invisible, and infinite. We will work hand in hand, share knowledge and build capabilities to make their customer experience second to none in the UK with a technology lead approach.”