LOLC Finance wins top two awards at Technnovation 2019

LOLC Finance Head of Liability Management Roshani Weerasekera and LOLC Technologies Chief Information Officer (Financial Services) Prasanna Siriwardena receiving the Gold Award for the Financial Institution of the Year for Customer Convenience from Central Bank of Sri Lanka Governor Dr. Indrajit Coomaraswamy

Sri Lanka’s Non-Banking Financial Institution (NBFI) giant, LOLC Finance PLC, which is renowned for offering cutting-edge digital banking solutions, bagged two of the topmost awards at the recently held LankaPay Technnovation Awards 2019. LOLC Finance proved its prowess yet again in the digital banking sphere, competing against prestigious banks and NBFIs to gain these top positions. Central Bank of Sri Lanka Governor Dr. Indrajit Coomaraswamy participated as the Chief Guest.

At the glittering awards ceremony, LOLC Finance was bestowed with the coveted titles Financial Institution of the Year for Customer Convenience and Overall Award for Excellence in Interbank Payments under the Non-Banking Financial Institutions category. 

LankaPay Technnovation Awards, an initiative of LankaClear, the operator of the National Payment Network is an effort to enhance the efficiency of the country’s national payment infrastructure and promote the use of electronic transactions. The awards recognise member banks and non-banking financial institutions who have excelled in electronic transactions during the 2018/19 financial year.

LOLC Finance Deputy Chairman/Chief Executive Officer Ravi Tissera said, “Winning two top accolades at the LankaPay Technnovation Awards 2019 demonstrates that our customers have well-accepted our value-added, hassle-free payment process. LOLC Finance was one of the first financial institutions in Sri Lanka to break into the mobile technology domain with the launch of the LOLC Real Time online portal and the mobile app in 2014 and 2015 respectively. This first move gave us a strong competitive advantage in the market, which we have continued to leverage to help us make further inroads into the mobile technology space via ground-breaking new solutions. This is also an honour bestowed upon the expertise and dedication of our talented team of professionals.” 

LOLC Group Chief Information Officer Conrad Dias said, “Since 2003, LOLC Finance has been in the vanguard of introducing ground-breaking financial services to the domestic financial services sector and every year we have seen a remarkable increase in the number of online transactions. Acknowledging the importance of the mobile channel in today’s financial services landscape, we strive to achieve the right balance between the rapidly evolving mobile environment and what is most beneficial to our customers. Guided by our customer first philosophy, our investments in mobile technology aims to create a consistent and efficient digital universe across all platforms. The Smart Collection Solution, PELE (Phone-eken-loan-ekak) and iPay are some of the revolutionary platforms introduced.”  LOLC Finance Head of Liability Management Roshani Weerasekera summed up by saying, “The early adoption of digital transformation and continuation of its digital first strategy enabled LOLC Finance to sustain the ‘Financial Institution of the year for Customer Convenience’ award for three consecutive years.”  

LOLC Finance was one of the first NBFIs that received the mandate to introduce Foreign Currency Savings accounts and the first NBFI to register for SWIFT transactions in Sri Lanka. The company also pioneered the transferable Fixed Deposit Bond. In the internet and mobile banking landscape, LOLC Finance became one of the first NBFIs to connect with the CEFTS.