Lanka Clear innovates for cashless transactions and real time fund transfers
View(s):Lanka Clear is aiming at ensuring the Sri Lankan society takes to card payment in the future and real time transactions through banks and other financial institutions by September 30. The project to ensure a cashless society would have its infrastructure in place by May next year.
Sunimal Weerasooriya
The September 30 deadline set by the Central Bank requires all banks are ready with the relevant infrastructure in place to speed up fund transfers by banks and financial institutions, Lanka Clear General Manager/CEO Sunimal Weerasooriya said at a media briefing held in Colombo on Friday.
Currently, the institution that started out with cheque clearing would be now seen by consumers as Lanka Pay at 1600 ATMS of Bank of Ceylon, People’s Bank, Union Bank, Seylan Bank and Hatton National Bank. By the end of July they expect to have 2500 under one network under which system not more than Rs.30 would be charged extra in using the Lanka Pay ATM network.
In addition, the 35 financial institutions will be involved in the system’s electronic transfer facility that would enable the Sri Lankan banking and financial sector to carry out real time fund transfers in the future, he noted.
These real time transactions would enable people to transfer their funds as and when they do make deposits for transfers.
Lanka Clear is also looking at ensuring there would be an increased number of persons joining the banking sector by pushing their money into the market without holding it up as they were trying to target the three-wheeler drivers as well, most of whom did not have bank accounts.
Mr. Weerasooriya noted that transactions carried out on the Internet or through the mobile phones would enable people to carry out transactions through this system as these do not require an account.
In this respect, they would be connecting consumers through the mobile wallet either with or without a bank account to transfer money to even a bank account.
With the cashless society soon to make headway in Sri Lanka, the company is eyeing the possibility of selling Point of Sale (POS) machines at very low cost to merchants in a bid to ensure that most transactions even with the local ‘mudalalis’ could be carried out through the card payment system.
In addition, the company would be innovating through the issuance of a national debit card that would provide for these transactions to be carried out at all POS locations in the country, Mr. Weerasooriya said.