Sampath Bank sweeps victory at Technnovation Awards

Sampath Bank Senior DGM - Group Marketing Deposit Mobilisation and Digitalisation Tharaka Ranwala receiving the ‘Overall Award for Excellence in Inter-bank Digital Payments (Banking Institutions)’ from Ministry of Technology Secretary Jayantha De Silva. From left: Sampath Bank AGM - IT Pasan Manukith, LankaClear Chairman Dr. Kenneth De Zilwa, Central Bank of Sri Lanka Assistant Governor D. Kumaratunge, Sampath Bank Group Chief Information Officer Ajith Salgado, ICT Agency of Sri Lanka Chairman Oshada Senanayake and LankaClear General Manager/CEO Channa de Silva 

Sampath Bank AGM - IT Pasan Manukith receiving the Gold award certification for ‘Best Acquirer on Lankapay Online Payment Platform’ from LankaClear Chairman Dr. Kenneth De Zilwa. Sampath Bank Senior DGM - Group Marketing Deposit Mobilisation and Digitalisation Tharaka Ranwala receiving the official award from Ministry of Technology Secretary Jayantha De Silva. From left: Sampath Bank Group Chief Information Officer Ajith Salgado, ICT Agency of Sri Lanka Chairman Oshada Senanayake and LankaClear General Manager/CEO Channa de Silva

Sampath Bank was judged ‘Most Innovative Bank’ at the LankaPay Technnovation Awards 2022, a gala event held recently at the Shangri-La Hotel, Colombo. Winners were picked by a distinguished panel of judges with long experience in banking and financial services.

The awards were based on customer-centric criteria – on how quickly and completely the Bank’s customers embraced new transactional technology. In effect, the Bank’s own customers won the award for Sampath Bank. 

The Bank can also thank its customers for a Silver award, the ‘Overall Award for Excellence in Inter-bank Digital Payments (Banking Institutions),’ plus two more coveted Gold awards for ‘Bank of the Year for Excellence in Customer Convenience (Category A),’ and for ‘Best Acquirer on LankaPay Online Payment Platform’. Sampath Bank also won the Merit award for ‘Bank of the Year for Financial Inclusivity (Category A).’

“This validates our customer-centric approach. The fact that Sampath has won Gold in the ‘Bank of the Year for Excellence in Customer Convenience - Category A’, proves that Sampath Bank is not only identifying and introducing the right innovative technology for customer convenience; but the larger point is that our customers are actually embracing these new ways of transacting banking business, like Touchless Cash Withdrawals. The judges took note of the very high rates of customer engagement with these innovations,” said Sampath Bank PLC Senior Deputy General Manager – Group Marketing, Deposit Mobilisation and Digitalisation Tharaka Ranwala. “We focused on convenience and ease of use, putting a wide array of transactional options at our customers’ fingertips. And we are extremely glad to see them using technology very freely.”

“The user experience is the critical factor. Introducing new technology is an interactive process. You need to see how customers interact with it and then tweak it over time to smooth out the rough edges, so to speak,” said Sampath Bank PLC Group Chief Information Officer Ajith Salgado. “Over the last three decades, Sampath Bank has placed its prime focus on enhancing customer experience through IT solutions and has been the trend-setter for IT innovations in the Sri Lankan banking industry. Winning multiple awards at the LankaPay Technnovation Awards 2022 is a great inspiration for the bank to continue the efforts of developing unique and creative solutions in a competitive environment where IT and banking is becoming inseparable.”  

The LankaPay Technnovation Awards were inaugurated four years ago to recognise and celebrate those members of the financial sector who have done the most to promote the national transition to digital payments. Aiming to drive financial inclusivity in the country – a key objective of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka – the Technnovation Awards are meant to encourage widespread adoption of the national payment network. The awards criteria for 2022 included interbank transactions during the period from 1 April 2020 to 31 March 2021 and encompassed 12 award categories.

This year’s theme was, appropriately enough, ‘Honouring the Digital Superheroes,’ to recognise the contributions made by Banks, Non-Banking Financial Institution (NBFIs), and FinTech companies toward delivering payment technology innovations despite the constraints of a global pandemic.