LankaPay US$ online channels Rs. 1.8 billion worth of transactions during first year of operations
View(s):Sri Lanka’s national payment network – LankaPay – is celebrating yet another milestone in its operations by completing one year of successful operations of its innovative ‘USD Online’ service. LankaPay launched USD Electronic Fund Transfers (EFT) in July 2015, enabling all member banks to offer same day US dollar transfers within the country, the company said in a media release. In its debut year, approximately Rs. 1.8 billion worth of transactions was channelled through this gateway.
The USD Online, the first of its kind to be launched in Sri Lanka, was a breakthrough in the banking and financial industry with the service having driven speed and efficiency on all interbank US Dollar transfers, along with facilitating the flow of foreign exchange savings into the economy. USD Online essentially allows the movement of funds between banks the same day without having to go through NOSTRO accounts maintained with correspondent banks in the US, the release said.
The system that began off with six banks now has a pool of 10 financial entities – Sampath Bank, Seylan Bank, ICICI Bank, Habib Bank, Cargills Bank, Amana Bank, HNB, Commercial Bank, Bank of Ceylon and Public Bank Berhad. With the launch of USD Online, customers of these banks were able to transact via other member bank branches island-wide and affect same day fund transfer to any personal or corporate foreign currency account at a nominal fee.
LankaClear Chief Executive Officer and General Manager Channa de Silva elaborated on the efforts taken on expanding this core product offering. “With the first year being a tremendous success, we are keen to further expand the service to more members so that it can accommodate greater needs of our target audience. In addition to our primary objective of driving greater financial inclusivity, we are striving to help the country save much needed foreign exchange as well. Similar to our current portfolio of exciting and innovative services, we will continue to further improve the USD online offering to our members by bringing in innovative facets.”