Cash no longer king in times of COVID-19
Sri Lanka is gradually moving towards a cashless society with COVID-19 second wave prompting the people to look for non physical cash transactions as one of the protections against the pandemic.
The Central Bank (CB) now promotes e-cash as new cash printing, destroying defaced and worn off cash stocks have become a costly affair while physical cash is identified as a carrier of infectious diseases that had been came to light following the COVID-19 pandemic.
The authorities are creating awareness on a cashless society by introducing cashless and even card-less banking as well as promoting mobile e cash, CB Assistant Governor R. A. A. Jayalath disclosed.
The growth in mobile e-cash usage in Sri Lanka has increased by around 400 per cent with the introduction of national quick response (QR) payment scheme or LANKAQR standard initially, he said.
Mobile phones have been a strong catalyst aiding the implementation of cashless operations within the country, and according to latest official data around 31 per cent of the total population is mobile Internet users.
The CB findings indicate that most cash-based transactions conducted in the country are low-valued and projected to be worth over Rs. 1 trillion per month.
Day-to-day transactions carried out by customers to purchase essential goods and services fall within this category of low-value transactions.
The CB together with financial institutions with LANKAQR enabled payment apps launched “LANKAQR” under an island-wide awareness campaign including print and electronic media advertising.
The aim of this public awareness campaign is to encourage the usage of LANKAQR code based digital payments due to its numerous benefits to the public and the economy, the CB announced.
LANKAQR has been adopted by financial institutions in Sri Lanka to facilitate fast, secure and low cost digital payments to any merchant, especially small and medium enterprises.
It enables customers to pay merchants directly from their bank accounts using a LANKAQR compliant mobile payment app. The payment is instantly credited to the merchant’s bank account.
The LANKAQR printed sticker is provided free of charge to merchants to display at their place of business by the member institutions of LANKAQR.
To pay using LANKAQR, a customer has to scan the LANKAQR using a mobile payment app and the merchant will receive an instant SMS notification, confirming the receipt of payment, the CB said.
It is envisaged that this would encourage digital payments in the economy and reduce the cost of cash management, as well as formalize the informal sector.
The adoption of this payment option by supermarkets soon will allow LANKAQR enabled payment app users to purchase their groceries, hassle-free, Mr. Jayalath revealed.