LinearSix to launch next phase of digital transformation in banking and insurance

The key team of LinearSix 

Celebrating four years of successfully transforming the banking and financial services sector of Sri Lanka with digital enablement, LinearSix is focused on bringing in a new era for banking and insurance in 2021. 

Starting small with the founding team depended on their extensive domain and technical expertise to help banks and financial institutions increase profitability through digitalisation, LinearSix has come a long way. 

“Within the first two months of operation we were fortunate to win a large contract to transform the core banking system of a leading finance company in Sri Lanka, and assist a leading bank with their Robotic Process Automation work,” recounts Co-founder and CEO Mario Gooneratne. With many years of combined banking and fintech expertise, LinearSix is a team of over 20 professionals, including the founders and industry veterans Mario Gooneratne, Ishan Wijetunga, Dinesh Thomas, Nadeesha Perera, Chetan Kari, Saad Mansoor, and Lalin Dias.

Their successful journey in the banking industry led LinearSix, and its partner Yaala Labs, to be the only local company to be selected by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) to design its new KYC (Know Your Customer) solution as a proof of concept using blockchain technology. 

Speaking of this venture Gooneratne said, “The banking industry needs to embrace emerging technology, remain flexible to adopt evolving business models, and put customers at the centre of every strategy. I’m proud to say that Sri Lankan banks are in the forefront of technology in terms of core banking systems. We are encouraged by the recent steps taken by CBSL to allow electronic Know your Customer (eKYC) and digital onboarding, and are confident that the local industry will soon have frictionless customer experiences, resulting in the increased adoption of digital banking.”

Gooneratne noted: “With the current pandemic, the demand for optimised digital experiences has only further spiked. The expectations of the modern consumer and employee, is shaped by best-in-class experiences such as Slack, Uber and WhatsApp. Our products are designed and engineered to deliver such unified and frictionless experiences in the financial services domain. With a focus on banking and insurance, they have transformed clumsy legacy systems with limited capabilities and controls, to create great experiences, which have benefited and resonated well with our customers.”

LinearSix is also promoting the concept of smarter e-wallets and open banking – the next big thing for Sri Lanka. “We believe that every bank having its own e-wallet is not the best way forward – we need an aggregator who has their own e-wallet that connects to multiple banks securely through open API’s, and have an innovative go to market strategy to increase user adoption,” explains Gooneratne, adding that customers should not be burdened with having multiple wallets to pick from when doing transactions. LinearSix have helped several banks to build API’s keeping Open Banking in mind, and are already in operation for Digital Banking and e-wallet related services. 

LinearSix is eyeing machine learning as its next innovation which uses data to create predictive profiles of customers. Banks can now offer services to customers based on real-time data and insights, instead of waiting for a customer to approach the bank with a request. Virtual agents can analyse data and propose a service, or mix of services, tailored to the customer’s needs, enabling banks to anticipate customers wants and needs proactively. This technology also verifies and analyses legal documents and contracts to ensure the customer and the bank are protected. “We are currently running a few pilots to explore machine learning-driven credit decisions, using customers’ credit behaviour to automate a bank’s loan decision process,” stated Gooneratne. 

Recognised as a tech-driven innovator supporting financial institutions set up transformational technology, LinearSix is confident that the acceleration towards digitalisation brought on by COVID-19 will be a promising launch-pad for the country and intends to continue its pioneering work in the banking and financial services domain.