Sri Lanka’s Non-Banking Financial Institution (NBFI) giant, LOLC Finance PLC bagged three top awards at the LankaPay Technnovation Awards 2017 held recently for the very first time competing against prestigious Banks and NBFIs to gain these top positions. At the glittering awards ceremony, LOLC Finance was bestowed with the following coveted titles:
1) Financial Institution of the year for Customer Convenience
2) Most Popular Electronic Payment Product
3) Best Mobile Payment Application of the Year
LankaPay Technnovation Awards, an initiative of Lanka Clear, the operator of the national payment network is an effort to enhance the efficiency of the country’s national payment infrastructure and promote the use of electronic transactions. The awards recognise member banks and non-banking financial institutions who have excelled in electronic transactions during the financial year starting 1st April 2016 to 31st March 2017. Central Bank of Sri Lanka Governor Dr. Indrajit Coomaraswamy graced the occasion as the Chief Guest.
Commenting about the achievements at the first ever LankaPay Technnovation Awards, Director/CEO of LOLC Finance, Mr. Ashan Nissanka said, “Winning three prestigious awards at the LankaPay Technnovation Awards 2017 clearly demonstrates that our customers have come to embrace our value-added payment process and that it is well accepted in the industry purely due to its hassle-free and user friendly features. This is also an honour bestowed upon us that pays tribute to the expertise and dedication of our team of professionals”.
Mr. Nissanka further stated, “Through our sustained focus on innovation, we continue to lead the market with a range of value added services, thereby engaging with our customers more than ever before and offering them the very quintessence of convenience. Our vision is to become a truly customer centric organisation that is on par with any international bank or NBFI, by adopting digitalisation because we believe that digital services have become the preferred means of interaction between customers and their financial institutions. Digitalisation has helped us to know our customers better and to offer them truly personalised products and services. We are ever so vigilant of our customers’ needs and move with the times to provide them with the latest and best in the industry. At LOLC Finance, our business model is driven by trust and confidence, underpinned by close customer relationships which helps us to forge ahead as a leading Financial Institution in digital transformation”.
Mr. Conrad Dias, LOLC Group’s Chief Information Officer said, “In the 2015/2016 financial year, the total number of instant transactions through LOLC Real Time was 3,257. However, this has surged tremendously in the last financial year to 28, 394 transactions. These statistics as well as the recent wins at the Technnovation Awards prove that LOLC Real Time is now immensely popular amongst customers as it is not only a convenient tool that offers direct and easy access to our customers’ LOLC Finance accounts but it is also designed on a scalable architecture that complies with the highest levels of information security standard. We also have USSD base option specially catering to our micro financing customers who are not using smart devices. Moving further, we hope to introduce the ability to utilise pre-approved loans online and implement trilingual support for the convenience of customers. We also hope to introduce the low value payment for merchants facilitated through Justpay from Lanka Clear and integrate it to LOLC Real Time”.
LOLC Real Time, the fully integrated, online payment platform of LOLC Finance enables customers to send and receive money, instantly via CEFTS (Common Electronic Fund Transfer Switch) and SLIPS (Sri Lanka Interbank Payment System). These mobile and internet banking solutions offer unparalleled convenience to customers who seek a superior level of speed, ease and security. Through LOLC Real Time, customers are able to transfer funds directly and instantly from their LOLC Finance Savings account to any account of the recipient, with the use of any device. Some of the solutions that are offered for the convenience of customers through this user friendly mobile app includes, checking of personal account balances and transaction history, payment of utility bills, transferring of funds in real time, monitoring expenses, scheduling postdated business transactions and instructing standing orders. Furthermore, all this can be done at absolutely no cost. This service is also supported by a 24-hour call centre which is equipped to handle customer enquiries on LOLC Real Time as well as ATM registration and other enquiries. Customers can register at any LOLC Finance branch to access the services of LOLC Real Time. LOLC Finance takes pride in claiming to be the first financial institution in the country to enable instant fund transfers and the first to introduce CEFTS transfers through a mobile app.
(Standing from Left to Right) Mr. Channa de Silva, General Manager/CEO, Lanka Clear (Pvt) Ltd, Mr. Anil Amarasuriya, Chairman Lanka Clear (Pvt) Ltd, Dr. Indrajit Coomaraswamy, Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, Mr. Ashan Nissanka, Director/CEO of LOLC Finance, Mrs. Roshani Weerasekera, Head of Liability Management, LOLC Finance and Mr. Chinthaka Jayasinghe, Head of Business Solutions, Banking – LOLC Technologies.
