‘LankaClear’ records 8.2% growth in 2013/14
Sri Lanka’s national payment infrastructure provider, LankaClear (Pvt) Ltd recorded 8.2 per cent growth in revenue while achieving revenue of Rs.463 million for the FY 2013/14, a media release issued by the company said.
The company is jointly owned by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka and all licensed commercial banks operating in the country.
Despite the pressure on costs due to the implementation of the Common Card and Payment Switch project during the year, the company managed to maintain the PAT (post tax profit) steady with only a marginal decline of 1.1 per cent compared to the previous financial year recording a PAT of Rs. 187 million. The company’s Net Assets per share increased to Rs. 71.98 from Rs. 61.41 in the previous years, the media release said.
During the year under review, the company cleared 48.3 million cheques through its inventive Cheque Imaging and Truncation System (CITS) where the total value of cheques cleared was Rs. 7,228 billion, whilst the value of transactions through Sri Lanka Inter-Bank Payments System (SLIPS) was Rs. 744 billion – a growth of 21 per cent. Cash withdrawals from ATMs powered by LankaPay’s Common ATM Switch also recorded an impressive average month-on-month growth of 8.4 per cent during the period of review where 1.3 million cash withdrawals were facilitated over a period of eight months through the LankaPay Common ATM Network with a total value Rs. 6.7 billion being disbursed through the network, the release said.
LankaClear’s Chairperson, Priyantha Liyanage, says; “Worldwide, the banking and financial services industry is now moving away from cash driven branch based banking towards cashless payment channels like POS, online shopping and online banking in order to increase efficiencies. Payment card volumes are also growing rapidly, which trend we are witnessing in Sri Lanka too.
LankaClear aims to establish the interoperability among payment networks of Middle Eastern and Asian countries and also route inward remittances through the national channel, adhering to international standards and best practices.”
LankaClear’s General Manager and Chief Executive Officer, Sunimal Weerasooriya, said; “The significant growth in SLIPS transaction volumes are testimony to the increasing awareness and confidence placed on electronic payments in Sri Lanka, as both businesses and individuals take advantage of the empowerment we have delivered. This rapid upward movement strengthens our confidence in the success of the ‘LankaPay’ network and the forthcoming innovations that will take us towards real-time electronic payments on the go, further redefining how Sri Lankans transact.”
LankaClear is now in the process of introducing Real Time Electronic Payments, Mobile Payments, POS Payments and a National Card Scheme as part of its Common Card and Payments Switch implementation, which will serve as significant value additions to the payments infrastructure in the country.