Sampath Bank re-launches revolutionary Mobile Cash facility

Sampath Bank, which constantly strives to make customers’ lives easier, became the first to introduce Mobile Cash facility that enables to send up to Rs. 200,000 daily over any mobile or CDMA network to anyone, anywhere in the country.

The system notifies recipients instantly on the transaction via Sampath SMS Alertz. There is also no requirement of a pre-registration to send or receive money. Money can also be collected instantly from any of Sampath Bank’s island-wide branch network or from any Sampath Bank ATM island-wide, 24-hours a day, 365 days a year.

Sampath account holders or the beneficiary (either an account holder or a third party) are eligible to use this mobile cash system.

Deputy General Manager Marketing and Business Tharaka Ranwala said: “Apart from the aim of increasing the number of people who use tele-banking facility, we are working on a different format where we inculcate the saving habit by opening accounts and the possibility of having part payments too. Mobile cash facility helps people with convenience, gives mental satisfaction in different scenarios, etc. It is an easy, convenient method and a reliable way of sending money and gives a sophisticated and faster outlook to Money Order concept.”

“We constantly strive to introduce innovations, as the pioneer, and this is the first mechanism operated in unlimited parameters. Further, we are conscious of AML (anti-money laundering) and KYC (Know Your Customer) compliances. What we want is to revolutionise and transfer the benefit to non-Sampath Bank customers. Our prime objective is to give convenience to people in sending money,” he added. Under this new system, transfer of funds can be done through Telebanking or any Sampath branch. The account holder can transfer funds by debiting the account linked to Telebanking facility. Details such as sender’s mobile phone number (if a mobile phone number is entered, a message will be delivered to the sender with an approval code via SMS), beneficiary’s mobile phone number, beneficiary’s NIC number (without the last alpha numeric character) and amount to be transferred must be entered via Telebanking in order to create the transaction.

When transferring to an account through Telebanking, the beneficiary too must have the Telebanking facility. On receipt of the SMS, the beneficiary can transfer the funds to his/her account by entering the NIC and the approval code through Telebanking, the bank said.

In the case of over-the-counter payments to beneficiaries, the beneficiary’s identity details should be established by obtaining the approval code and the National Identity Card. Furthermore, the account holder can request to transfer funds either by debiting the account or by depositing cash.

The Mobile Cash system also has specified a minimum and maximum amount per transaction, which are Rs. 1,000 and Rs. 40,000 respectively. Amount of the transaction has to be in multiples of Rs. 100. Maximum transfer amount per day, for a particular sender is Rs. 200,000.

Once the transaction is processed after verification, a message will be delivered to the beneficiary’s mobile phone via SMS giving details such as sender’s phone number, amount, approval code and transaction expiry date. The sender too will receive a message indicating the beneficiary’s NIC number, phone number, amount and a separate approval code via SMS. This code can be used to cancel the transaction by the sender prior to withdrawal by the beneficiary or on expiry.

With regard to the payment method, partial payments are not allowed. Transferring money to another Sampath Bank account could be done if the transaction was created through Telebanking. Money received could be withdrawn from any Sampath Bank branch or through any Sampath Bank ATM. It should also be noted that the beneficiary can withdraw money from any Sampath Bank ATM by entering the NIC, the approval code and the amount. A service charge of Rs. 50 and Rs. 75 will be charged for transactions that fall between Rs. 1,000-Rs. 25,000 and Rs. 25,001-Rs. 40,000 respectively.