Flash Digital Bank Account – Sri Lanka’s first fully-fledged Digital Bank Account with never-before-seen personal financial management tools
Flash Digital Bank Account, powered by Commercial Bank of Ceylon PLC, is Sri Lanka’s first fully-fledged Digital Bank Account and is designed to be the next evolution in digital financial services and financial wellness. Flash Digital Bank Account brings a simple, seamless banking experience to Sri Lankan users, wherever they are. It offers never-before-seen personal financial management tools that encourage, empower and embolden users to better engage with their finances, make wise choices about spending and saving and, in so doing, enrich their own financial wellness.
A prospective account holder can download the Flash app from the App Store, Play Store or Huawei Appgallery. This will open a world of financial services to a whole new base of customers that were otherwise unwilling or unable to engage with the traditional banking system, promoting financial inclusivity.
Once signed up, account holders can enjoy a range of services straight from their mobile phones – anytime, anywhere.
In addition to basic Online Banking facilities such as balance checks, fund transfers and bill payments, the app focuses specifically on promoting the financial well-being of its users. To this end, special functions have been developed to help users engage with their money and manage these funds in an accurate and responsible way.
The all-new real-time Budgeting Tool is linked directly to the user’s Flash Debit Card and will track and reflect all spending in real time, allowing the user to categorise, manage and better understand his or her daily spending. The Savings Management Tool allows for goal setting and automated savings, thereby promoting and facilitating the savings habit and long-term financial wellness. The Group Payments Management Tool allows for multiple payments to be sent and received simultaneously for the first time in Sri Lanka. Finally, an Investment Management Tool allows for the immediate creation of fixed deposits and, in the future, will allow users to instantaneously apply for stocks and many other wealth management instruments.
Commenting on the Flash Savings Account, Commercial Bank’s Head of Retail Products and Digital Channels, Mr.
Pradeep Banduwansa said: “Commercial Bank is proud to have introduced this unique state-of-the-art Digital Bank account with features such as financial management tools never experienced by Sri Lankan banking customers. This breakthrough product has attracted millennials who are known to be active on social, mobile and digital media platforms, and it has revolutionalized the traditional banking industry. The features of the Flash Digital Bank account add value to the banking experience by making it much more convenient and personal, in keeping with our promise to introduce technology that matters in the lives of our customers.”
The account also has an innovative video call identity verification feature making it possible for an account to be opened, activated and operated without ever stepping into a bank branch.
The unique Digital KYC (Know Your Customer) process allows the Bank to remotely complete the customer verification requirements through video call verification and provide the Flash account holder full access to all the functions of the activated app. Among these is the linking of other bank accounts, enabling the account holder to transfer money from an account in another bank to top-up the Flash account with funds and apply for life insurance, the Bank said.
Further simplifying the self-registration process, Commercial Bank now requires those opening a Flash Digital Bank Account to simply fill in a few personal details and upload the specified identification documents via their Flash mobile App. A bank officer will then contact the customer via a video call for the verification and activation of the account.
The winner of the award for the ‘Digital Banking Initiative of the Year’ in Sri Lanka at the 2021 Asian Banking and Finance (ABF) awards, Flash is a comprehensive digital banking app that provides financial services required to manage the lifestyle of a customer across aspects such as daily living and utility expenses, budgeting, saving, financing, ecommerce, environmental awareness, and investments. The app is supported by its own dedicated website – www.flashbank.lk
Besides providing the standard banking services required by account holders, Flash offers several innovative features and functions that go beyond routine banking. These include a ‘Save the Environment feature’ which promotes an understanding of the social carbon footprint of consumption by assessing each transaction a user carries out via the app while being the 4th in the world and 1st in Asia, only in Sri Lanka to adopt such advanced technology; an ‘Advanced Budgeting’ tab which functions as a personal financial management tool that enables tracking of spending with a detailed categorisation of expenses; a Quick Response (QR) payment module that enables users to scan a LANKAQR code of any merchant to make payments directly from their accounts to the merchant for purchases, integration with the Pickme app QR; Flash e-statements with payment and receipts and detailed e-receipts for Flash transactions with the option to share via email and Whatsapp; ‘Justpay’ which enables customers to add any bank account to top up Flash and make payments, and the ‘My Payees’ and ‘My Billers’ functions in the homepage menu with recent payee and biller templates.
Additionally, Flash is equipped with a ‘Flash Finance SPACE’ function that generates requests for Personal Loans, Home Loans, Leasing facilities and Education Loans. Flash allows its customers to invest their money in Fixed Deposits for a higher return of interest. Further, Flash allows customers to apply for Health Insurance coverage through Fairfirst Insurance with many options, providing higher benefits, enabling customers to look into the most suitable choice for them and their families.
Its latest innovation is the introduction of wearable banking, a first in Sri Lanka, where Apple Watch users can view their bank balances and accept payment requests from the screens on their wrists.
The Bank’s and the country’s first “wearable banking” product was achieved with the integration of access to, and select features of, the Bank’s ‘Flash’ Digital Account with Apple Watch in collaboration with Digital Payment Services Pvt Ltd.
Flash account holders who own Apple watches linked to iphones can now check their account balances and check payment requests and bill-sharing requests from the smartwatches on their wrists without reaching for their phones, the Bank said.
“While the first step of this initiative focuses on enabling account balance view and accepting fund transfer requests, the Bank is already exploring the possibility of enabling additional features such as bill payments and own account transfers that will significantly enhance the functionality of wearable banking.
Its latest innovation is the introduction of wearable banking, a first in Sri
Lanka, where Apple Watch users can view their bank balances and accept payment requests from the screens on their wrists.