People’s Bank wins three Gold awards at Lankapay Technnovation Awards
People’s Bank stole the limelight at the recently-held Lankapay Technnovation Awards 2019, becoming the recipient of a number of awards, bagging 3 Gold Awards for ‘The Most Popular Electronic Payment Product - category A’; ‘Bank of the year for Financial Inclusivity-category A’; and ‘Best Common ATM Acquirer of the Year - category A’ - all highly coveted honors for which banks and non-banking financial institutions compete to demonstrate innovative digital technology.
Lankapay Technnovation Awards is Sri Lanka’s first and only annual payment technology innovation awards ceremony.
The gold award for ‘The Most Popular Electronic Payment Product” was granted to People’s Bank for its mobile payment application, ‘Peoples Wave’, which has recorded 500,000 downloads within a short period of time.
This award was chosen through online social media vote where 32,000 votes were recorded this year, three times more than the previous time. People’s Bank won by a wide margin of 16,000 votes. Further, the ‘Bank Of The Year for Financial Inclusivity’ Gold was bestowed for directly facilitating Bank and Financial Inclusivity to every individual in the country across its 737 branches and service centers island wide along with its ever-increasing digital footprint.
People’s Bank has steadfastly supported customers in the North and East even through the period of the conflict, a fact which was noted by the panel of judges, who cited that People’s Bank values customer diversity, enriches living standards and is truly the Bank of the People.
The 3rd Gold award for ‘Best Common ATM Acquirer of the Year’ was based on the number of transactions carried out through People’s Bank ATMS.
The transactional volumes were measured annually from 1st of April 2018 to the 31st of March 2019. People’s Bank ATMS are preferred because of the Bank’s digitization expertise and accessibility, being the widest single automated machines’ network in the country. Putting customer convenience first, People’s Bank has made lives easier by launching applications to support Common Electronic Fund Transfer Switch (CEFTS) System and Sri Lanka Interbank Payment System (SLIPS). People’s Bank now has over 230 selfbanking units and over 1,200 selfservice automated machines offering real time access 24/7 throughout the year. People’s Bank also walked away with a Merit award for overall best performance of the year.
Commenting on the bank’s spectacular performance at the Technnovation Awards 2019, People’s Bank’s General Manager and CEO, Rasitha Gunawardana said, “This is a momentous occasion for us as this is the first time People’s Bank has received 3 Gold Awards at the highlyregarded Technnovation Awards - and to win 3 awards in one evening makes us very proud. People’s Bank has taken a pioneering role in digitization and customer engagement by leveraging on digitally driven solutions and initiatives, placing the bank at the forefront of digital innovation to bring the benefits of digitalization to the entire nation.
“We would like to express our heartfelt appreciation to our customers and the wider public for placing their trust in us, which inspires us to innovate and expand, going from strength to strength.
“People’s Bank’s almost six decades’ experience in the industry positions us as the preferred bank for those who want to ensure the security of their financial future. Our exceptional staff needs to be credited for the bank’s strong performance at Technnovation Awards 2019 as it is mainly their hard work that has made this triumph possible. The confidence placed in us by all our stakeholders provides the impetus for us to keep forging ahead on our ambitious digitalization journey”.
Initiated in 2017 in a quest to drive financial inclusivity in the country, which is a key objective of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, Lankapay Technnovation Awards intends to enhance the efficiency of the country’s national payment network.
Banks, non-banking financial institutions and Fintech service providers who have remained steadfastly committed to this cause and excelled in this endeavor, vie for recognition under 15 categories.
The initial shortlisting was carried out based on an evaluation of the performance of these institutions against set criteria, subjected to an independent audit. In the second stage, shortlisted winners had to present before an independent and eminent panel of judges on how they achieved that performance and how they plan to build upon with conviction.
Outright winners in each category were then selected by the said panel, based on the strength of the presentation, and the novelty and the feasibility of the plans for the future.