Trailblazers in payment technology recognised at LankaPay Technnovation Awards
LankaPay Technnovation Awards 2019 organised for the third consecutive year by LankaClear, the Operator of LankaPay National Payment Network, was held recently at the Shangri-la Hotel, Colombo.
This event is Sri Lanka’s first and the only payment technology innovation awards initiated with the objective of recognising the pioneers of the country’s payment technology innovations who promote digital payments.
The awards ceremony was conducted under the patronage of Ajith P. Perera, Minister of Digital Infrastructure and Information Technology as the Chief Guest and Dr. Indrajit Coomaraswamy, Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka as the Guest of Honour while Akira Sugiyama, Japanese Ambassador, also attended the event as a special guest.
Sampath Bank clinched the pinnacle of all awards by winning the Overall Gold Award for “Excellence in Interbank Payments” under the “Banking Institutions” category while Nations Trust Bank claimed the overall Silver Award. The Overall Bronze Award was secured by Commercial Bank of Ceylon PLC and People’s Bank bagged the Overall Merit Award. Under the “Non- Banking Financial Institutions” category, LOLC Finance PLC retained the overall Gold Award as the winner of “Excellence in Interbank Payments” for the second consecutive year.
Altogether 33 awards in 12 categories were on offer at the event and the Gold Award winners were;
1) Bank of the Year for Excellence in Customer Convenience - Category A: Sampath Bank PLC; Category B: Nations Trust Bank PLC; Category C: National Development Bank PLC
2) Best Common ATM Acquirer of the Year - Category A: People’s Bank; Category B: Sampath Bank PLC; Category C: Amana Bank PLC
3) Bank of the Year for Financial Inclusivity - Category A: People’s Bank; Category B: Nations Trust Bank PLC; Category C: Cargills Bank Ltd
4) Best Bank for Seamless Bank-end Operations – Hatton National Bank PLC
5) Most Innovative Bank of the Year - Sampath Bank PLC 6) Financial Institution of the Year for Customer Convenience - LOLC Finance PLC
7) Most Popular Electronic Payment Product: Banking and Financial Institutions category – People’s Bank (Product: People’s Wave)
8) Most Popular Electronic Payment Product: Fintech category – Dialog Axiata PLC (Genie)
9) Best Payment Application of the Year – Commercial Bank of Ceylon PLC (Commercial Bank Online Banking)
10) Best Bank for Retail Payments - Sampath Bank PLC
11) Best Mobile Application for Retail Payments – Dialog Axiata PLC (Genie)
12) Best Acquirer on LankaPay Online Payment Platform - Commercial Bank of Ceylon PLC
13) Best Acquirer for US Dollar Online Payments - Bank of Ceylon
“With the rapid technological advancements and emergence of a new generation of influencers who grew up with technology, commonly known as Generation Z customers or simply Gen Z; established business models are coming under tremendous pressure to remain pertinent in this digital era. This new generation of customers who have been exposed to the Internet, social networks and mobile devices from a very young age; live, work and consume different to the previous generations, demanding organisations to rethink their business models. Driven by technology and an on-demand culture, consumers today are increasingly convenience- driven and demand products and services to be made available at the touch of a button, anytime and anywhere. Payments as an integral part of their lifestyles too need to keep pace with these changing dynamics in consumerism. It is in this backdrop that this year’s LankaPay Technnovation Awards focused on customer convenience under an apt theme “The Clear Touch”, taking into consideration the numerous elements that need to operate seamlessly, in a fraction of a second in order to bring convenience to the customers’ fingertips,” the organisers said in a media release.