ComBank POS cashless payment volumes show exponential growth in 2020

Point-of-Sale (POS) terminals deployed by the Commercial Bank of Ceylon at retail outlets across Sri Lanka have shown exponential growth in cashless payment volumes, thus becoming the fastest growing POS network in the country, the bank reports.

The market leader in combined credit and debit card usage in Sri Lanka, Commercial Bank is also one of the biggest facilitators of card-based payments, with an offering of state-of-the art wired as well as wireless POS terminals, including Android-powered devices with QR code capability that cater to the steadily increasing volume of cashless transactions in Sri Lanka.

Commenting on this achievement by the bank’s POS network, the Head of Commercial Bank’s Card Centre Thusitha Suraweera said: “Our technology motivates merchants and customers alike to opt for cashless transactions. Greater convenience and security drive incremental sales for the merchants. According to statistics published by the Central Bank, there are approximately 23 million debit cards in Sri Lanka which are primarily used at ATMs to withdraw cash. A much smaller number is used at POS machines. We hope to change this dynamic, by widening access to cashless transactions that are secure and convenient.”

Commercial Bank recently launched Sri Lanka’s first LANKAQR supported Android operating system based POS device to facilitate cashless payments at merchant outlets countrywide. The bank is also working with several other companies to develop similar solutions for the market. To further add convenience to customers, the Android POS is Near Field Communication (NFC) enabled. 

The inclusion of NFC technology enables contact-less transactions for customers with payment processing via just a tap on the terminal. Positioned as the most-advanced Android POS device in the country, the Android Smart Terminal combines the functionality and portability of an Android terminal with tailored security-certified payments software enabling it to process transactions via VISA, Mastercard, UnionPay and JCB cards through LankaPay, as well as QR Code based payments under LANKAQR. 

The QR Code presented at Commercial Bank POS machines under LANKAQR also facilitates mVisa and Mastercard QR access and will soon be expanded to cover UnionPay QR acceptance as well. This facility offers consumers a frictionless payment experience and reduces the waiting time at checkout counters.

For merchants who prefer a simpler method of digital payments acceptance, the bank also offers the Easy POS device which is a card reader that can be paired with a smartphone via Bluetooth.  

Commercial Bank has also launched an Android Mini POS device, a fully functional, sleek and smart terminal with SIM and Wi-Fi connectivity. All Android POS devises issued by the bank are available with a tri-lingual user interface. This technology is positioned as a cost-effective solution for the SME industry and is expected to further expand the cashless ecosystem. 

Commercial Bank cards are the fastest growing cards in Sri Lanka and enjoy market leadership in credit and debit card cumulative point-of-sale usage. The bank offers a variety of credit cards in the Silver, Gold and Platinum tiers of Visa, Mastercard and UnionPay Cards, as well as Visa Signature, World Mastercard, Visa Infinite, UnionPay Asia Prestige Platinum and UnionPay Asia Prestige Diamond Cards in the premium segment. The cards are equipped with ‘Tap ’n Go’ NFC technology and are backed by a strong NFC Point-of-Sale (POS) network.