ComBank Digital first to link Import & Export Control Department for online payments with LankaPay

LankaClear Chairman Dr. Kenneth De Zilwa (left) and Commercial Bank Managing Director S. Renganathan

The Commercial Bank of Ceylon has become the first bank in Sri Lanka to link the Import and Export Control Department (IECD) to a digital platform with LankaPay, enabling customers to pay their license fees to the department conveniently, without having to leave their desks.

Online real-time payments to the IECD via ComBank Digital are now possible for the bank’s individual as well as business customers and can be accessed on www.combankdigital.com and its iOS and Android mobile applications. The platform is secured with industry-level security standards to provide a convenient, swift, and safe digital banking experience to its customers, wherever they are, the bank said.

To use this online payment option, customers simply have to visit the ‘Billers’ section on the platform, select the desired biller and make the payment. Once the payment has been successfully completed, the customer can download a cyber receipt as payment confirmation.

“Technology-enabled access is now much more than just a matter of convenience, as the disruptions caused by the lockdowns necessitated by the pandemic have shown,” Commercial Bank Managing Director S. Renganathan observed. “Using technology can be the difference between keeping a business alive or going belly-up. At Commercial Bank, we are exploring every possibility offered by technology to help our customers continue their business operations, come what may.”

Speaking of this partnership with Commercial Bank on facilitating online payments to IECD, LankaClear Chairman Dr. Kenneth De Zilwa stated: “A digitally-enabled public sector is a key aspect of the national initiative to bring about an enabling environment for the private sector to move towards capturing global market share. This will also help Sri Lanka’s own Ease of Doing Business Index. Import-export function is a vital part of it, particularly in creating a conducive environment for business and trade. Having identified this need, LankaClear launched LankaPay Online Payment Platform (LPOPP) under the guidance of the Ministry of Finance and Central Bank as a ground-breaking initiative towards digitalising Government payments. Since then we have partnered with several government institutions and IECD is the latest. I must applaud and commend the Commercial Bank MD S. Renganathan and his dynamic team on their exemplary contribution towards making this initiative possible, in such a short period, by partnering us from the pilot stage, becoming the first bank to facilitate online payments to IECD via the LankaPay network.”

ComBank Digital already enables payments to Government authorities such as the Inland Revenue Department (IRD), Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) for cargo, vessel, and entry permit payments, Sri Lanka Customs, Employee Provident Fund (EPF), Employee Trust Fund (ETF), and the Board of Investment of Sri Lanka (BOI). These payments are routed through the LankaPay Online Payment Platform (LPPOP).

In May 2020, the Commercial Bank integrated all its online and mobile banking channels on a single omni-channel platform with the launch of ‘ComBank Digital’, which enables customers to experience a whole new dimension of modern banking technology, including access to bank accounts from anywhere any time, fast and safe transaction and communication channels, and real-time transactions with status updates.