Bank of Ceylon bags top award at LankaPay Technnovation Awards

Organised with the objective of driving financial inclusivity in the country by fueling the use of electronic transactions, Sri Lanka’s first and the only payment technology innovation awards – LankaPay Technnovation Awards 2017 – concluded on a high note. 

Held on 20 June at the Balmoral, The Kingsbury under the distinguished patronage of Dr. Indrajit Coomaraswamy, Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka – the Chief Guest and Koji Yagi, Counsellor/Deputy Head of Mission, Embassy of Japan in Sri Lanka – Guest of Honour, the event saw a participation of over 300 high profile guests.  The event also featured the renowned FinTech maestro, Sopnendu Mohanty, Chief FinTech Officer of the Monetary Authority of Singapore who enlightened the audience on the pertinent topic of ‘Smart Financial Sector’.

Bank of Ceylon emerged the Overall Winner for ‘Excellence in Interbank Payments,’ winning the Gold award, while Seylan Bank bagged the Silver and became the Overall Runner-Up for ‘Interbank Payments’. Overall Merit award was secured by Union Bank of Colombo PLC. 

Altogether 21 awards under eight categories were presented at the event where banks and financial institutions were categoried based on their size and capacity for three awards, namely ‘Best Common ATM Acquirer of the Year,’ ‘Bank of the Year for Financial Inclusivity’ and ‘Bank of the Year for Customer Convenience’. 

Hatton National Bank PLC, Union Bank of Ceylon PLC, Pan Asia Banking Corporation PLC emerged victorious winning the Gold awards under category A, B, and C for the ‘Best Common ATM Acquirer of the Year’. ‘Bank of the Year for Financial Inclusivity’ was bagged by Bank of Ceylon, Seylan Bank and Union Bank of Ceylon Respectively under category A, B & C. ‘Bank of the Year for Customer Convenience’ was secured by Bank of Ceylon, Seylan Bank PLC and Union Bank of Colombo PLC. 

Gold award for ‘Best Bank for Seamless Bank-end Operations’ was secured by Seylan Bank and LOLC Finance emerged the Gold award winner of ‘Financial Institution of the Year for Customer Convenience’. Sampath Bank bagged the Gold award, winning the ‘Most Innovative Bank of the Year’ award and after a keen competition LOLC Finance PLC became the winner of the ‘Most Popular Electronic Payment Product’. LOLC Finance PLC also bagged the Gold for ‘Best Mobile Payment Application of the Year’.

LankaPay Technnovation Awards 2017 recognised banks and non-banking financial institutions who have been steadfast to the cause of using innovative technology to promote digital transactions and exceled in this endeavour. Initiated with the objective of reducing the cost of financial transactions by promoting the use of country’s national payment network, LankaPay Technnovation Awards 2017 took into account the interbank transactions carried out during the period from 1 April 2016 to 31 March 2017. The selection process underwent a rigorous and extensive two tiered evaluation process. 

The initial marking was carried out based on the performance of individual banks and non-banking financial institutions against a set criteria defined and communicated at the commencement of the competition period. At the second stage of marking, the shortlisted winners presented their case to an independent high profile Panel of Judges who determined the final winners. The validation of data used for the initial evaluation process was also subjected to an independent audit carried out by E&Y.

This is an initiative aptly supported by the Central Bank and the independent Panel of Judges, which was chaired by Wasantha Deshapriya, Secretary to the Ministry of Telecommunication and Digital Infrastructure. 

The other members of the elite panel of judges were Asite D. B. Talwatte – Chairman Management Systems Ltd., Past President Chartered Institute of Management Accountants and  Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka; Lasantha Wickremasinghe – President, Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka and Partner BR De Silva; Rajeeva Bandaranaike – Chief Executive Officer, Colombo Stock Exchange; Manil Jayasinghe – Partner E&Y; and Dulith Herath – Founder and Chairman of Kapruka.com.