Commercial Bank’s ‘Paymaster’ pays out record Rs. 5.2 b in a day

A colossal Rs. 5.2 billion was disbursed on 8 April by the Commercial Bank’s ‘Paymaster’ total payment solution on behalf of corporate clients using the facility.

The all time record pay-out consisted of bonuses, salaries, over time and myriad other employee related payments made through Paymaster.

The payments made on that single day in the hectic build up to the Sinhala and Tamil New Year represented over 102,000 transactions requested by more than 400 companies.

“This record disbursement is the best endorsement of the product as a reliable and speedy payment option capable of efficiently handling transactions on a large scale,” said Sanath Bandaranayake, Deputy General Manager – Operations of Commercial Bank. “The popularity of the application demonstrates that it has become the choice of convenience of many businesses and institutions.”  

Paymaster enables organisations or individuals to make virtually any type of payment to multiple beneficiaries by simply uploading a file to Commercial Bank’s online platform. There are no limits to the number of transactions and if the paying party and beneficiary both have accounts at Commercial Bank, the transfer of funds would be virtually instant. Other benefits of the application include the minimisation of transaction time, costs and risks associated with the physical handling of money.

Apart from settlement of suppliers, disbursement of dividends and interest and payment of insurance claims, agent commissions, salaries and bonuses, companies can also make ETF payments by utilising this application. Payments may be made in cash or cheque via Paymaster.

More than 1,350 corporate clients use the Paymaster product at present, the bank said.

Established in 1969, Commercial Bank owns a network of 198 computer-linked branches and supermarket banking counters in Sri Lanka. In addition it owns the single largest network of ATMs, currently numbering 417.

The bank has been adjudged Sri Lanka’s ‘Bank of the Year’ seven times by ‘The Banker,’ ‘Best Bank in Sri Lanka’ for 13 consecutive years by ‘Global Finance’ Magazine, and the Best Bank in Sri Lanka twice by FinanceAsia. It has also been rated ‘Best Local Trade Bank’ in Sri Lanka by the UK based ‘Trade Finance’ magazine.