As e-commerce continues to burgeon in Sri Lanka, the Commercial Bank of Ceylon has asserted its ascendancy in this sphere, with payment processing services deployed by the Bank now accounting for approximately two out of every five transactions.
This market share of 40% in value terms is a testament to the role the Bank has played in supporting the country’s retail industry and promoting online sales for customers, the Bank said. The Bank currently supports the online payment processing of over 500 merchants through Mastercard Payment Gateway Services (MPGS) and Visa Cybersource, two of the world’s leading payment gateway platforms which are fully-compliant with Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS) requirements. The third IPG solution of the Bank is ‘ComBank SimplePay’ which is a simplified, Sri Lankan adaptation of the Mastercard product “Simplified Commerce.”
Commercial Bank is the preferred IPG partner of a cross section of businesses in Sri Lanka, including global fast food companies, all major e-commerce sites, white goods merchants, leading upmarket clothing stores, educational institutions, airlines and leading travel agents.
Both MPGS and Visa Cybersource platforms offer tokenization support, eliminating the need for customers to re-enter their card details when performing repetitive transactions with a specific merchant. This is made possible as the card details are stored securely by the Bank which generates a unique token, keeping the purchasers’ sensitive card details away from the merchants’ systems.
Further, these solutions provide access to a comprehensive set of fraud mitigation tools, supporting both ‘Mastercard Secure Code’ and ‘Verified by Visa’ 3D secure authentication solutions while having the fully automated process to handle ComBank Easy Payment Plans (EPP).
Besides offering security, one of the most crucial features of cashless payments, Commercial Bank’s IPG solutions also support device-optimised payment screens which are designed to offer a seamless experience to users of various devices; a feature much requested by the local eCommerce industry.
‘ComBank Simple Pay’ was launched to empower local businesses to reap the benefits of e-commerce and can be accessed via iOS and Android mobile applications.The platform provides local entrepreneurs the opportunity to create their own online store without spending large sums on web development and designing. They can also sell products, accept electronic payments, set up automatic payments to settle bills, and raise custom electronic invoices.
The first Sri Lankan Bank to be listed among the Top 1000 Banks of the World and the only Sri Lankan bank to be so listed for ten years consecutively, Commercial Bank is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year. The Bank, which won more than 50 international and local awards in 2019, operates a network of 268 branches and 875 ATMs in Sri Lanka.
Commercial Bank’s overseas operations encompass Bangladesh, where the Bank operates 19 outlets; Myanmar, where it has a Representative Office in Yangon and a Microfinance company in Nay Pyi Taw; and the Maldives, where the Bank has a fully-fledged Tier I Bank with a majority stake.