LankaClear signs deal with Just In Time Holdings for Common Card and Payment Switch

LankaClear (Private) Limited, the national clearing house jointly owned by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka and the Licensed Commercial Banks in Sri Lanka recently entered into a contract with Just In Time Holdings, the country’s leading systems integrator for the implementation of the Common Card And Payment Switch (CCAPS).

This will facilitate rapid economic activity through faster payments and facilitate the integration of future financial services.

The switch application software for this project would be provided by Fidelity Information Systems (FIS) of USA and the hardware would be supplied by IBM.

As per the road map of the National Payment Council (NPC) and the decisions taken by the NPC, LankaClear has been requested to establish the Common Card and Payment Switch (CCAPS) in Sri Lanka. The Monetary Board of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka has approved the CCAPS as the National Payment Switch.

The switch would be implemented in three phases: Phase I: Common ATM Switch; Phase II: Mobile Payment and EFT Switch and Phase III: POS Switch

As part of the implementation of the above phases of the switch, a National Payment Framework would be developed which will include the operational procedures, certification process for the participating banks, dispute management procedures, reconciliation/clearing/settlement process, messaging standards and security standards.

The CCAPS would create the backbone infrastructure for all future electronic payments in the country and would avoid the duplication of infrastructure and provide the best benefit for the participating banks and well as end users through economies of scale.

LankaClear is one of the most successful public-private partnerships in the country.  Since its inception in 2002 following the divestment of the Sri Lanka Automated Clearing House (SLACH), the company has consistently brought economies of scale to the banking industry by combining the efficiency and dynamism of the private sector with the stability and security characterised by the public sector.  

Administering a product portfolio centred around services to the banking industry, LankaClear offers a multitude of services designed to facilitate efficient payments.   These include the Cheque Imaging and Truncation System (CITS), which facilitates the realisation of a cheque the next day irrespective if where it is deposited and the Sri Lanka Interbank Payment System (SLIPS) which is an online inter-bank electronic fund transfer system enabling the same day transfer of funds in a highly secure environment.  The introduction of the US Dollar Clearing System has significantly expedited the realisation of US Dollar cheques and drafts, bringing tangible benefits to customers while significantly improving banking efficiency.

Furthermore, the company addressed the paramount need for utmost security in online transactions by incorporating a Certification Authority, shouldering the responsibility to provide digital security certificates for the finance sector.