Commercial Bank, the largest private bank and the most awarded bank in Sri Lanka, has created multiple payment options through international payment platforms to assist business owners to open up versatile payment platforms to their customers.

For the first time in Sri Lanka, Commercial Bank entered into an agreement with Tenpay Payment Technology Ltd to enable payments through ‘WeChat Pay- one of the leading mobile payment solutions in China presenting Chinese tourists visiting Sri Lanka the added benefit of purchasing goods and services and paying for them through ‘WeChat Pay’.

Simultaneously, Commercial Bank also obtained license to acquire payments through “Alipay”- China`s leading mobile payment platform again targeting the Chinese travelers visiting Sri Lanka to pay for goods and services obtained din Sri Lanka through ‘Alipay’.  Both these QR Code based payment solutions were brought to the Sri Lankan market by Commercial Bank in partnership with Wells Digital Infrastructure (Pvt) Ltd., and Swift Pass Technologies Co.Ltd., a leading electronic payments solutions provider.

The Bank has several methods of facilitating these payments, payments can be processed through a dynamic QR where registered Merchants can download the application to their mobile phones to process transactions, or alternatively through a special POS machine provided by the Bank to facilitate Chinese payments.  Also there are additional variants such as a static QR code where a static QR is displayed at the merchant store and the customer scans the QR and make the payment, the merchant can verify the transaction status through a backend portal or through an application.  These Chinese payments can also be facilitated through an integration with the web site of the merchant where transactions will take place where a dynamic QR is displayed on the site for the specific transaction and the customer can scan the QR code and make the payment.  The Bank will assist the merchant to select and decide on the most appropriate payment acquiring method.

Commercial Bank also introduced UnionPay POS machines to cater to the large number of Chinese travelers who visit the country carrying UnionPay Cards.

The Bank also was a pioneer in introducing the trendy “tap and go” technology, facilitated by Near Field Communication (NFC) enabled point-of-sale (POS) terminals installed at merchant outlets around the country.  This technology enables the customers to simply tap their Visa or Mastercard Cards on the NFC-enabled terminals to carry out payments without even having to hand over their cards to outlet staff.

The first to launch internationally-valid NFC-enabled Chip & PIN Credit Cards in Sri Lanka, Commercial Bank already has 5,000 such terminals installed at retail outlets around the country. This facility increases customer satisfaction by cutting down the time of standing in queues and eliminating the need for signatures for purchases below Rs 5000. The technology also improves the security of each transaction by offering maximum protection against the skimming or cloning of cards and against counterfeit transactions.

Commercial Bank cards are the fastest growing cards in Sri Lanka and enjoy market leadership in Credit and Debit Card cumulative point-of-sale usage. The Bank offers a variety of Credit Cards in the Classic, Gold and Platinum tiers of Visa, Mastercard and UnionPay cards, as well as Visa Signature, World Mastercard, Visa Infinite, UnionPay Asia prestige Diamond and UnionPay Asia prestige Platinum Cards in the premium segment. The cards are equipped with ‘Tap n Go’ NFC technology and are backed by a strong NFC point-of-sale network.

Commercial Bank Credit and Debit Cards offer year-round promotions covering a wide variety of services. Commercial Bank was the first bank to offer loyalty rewards for both Credit and Debit Cardholders under its Max Loyalty Rewards scheme. The Bank was also a pioneer in extending promotional discount offers, which were traditionally only offered for Credit Cards to its Debit Cards.

The only Sri Lankan Bank to be ranked among the world’s top 1000 banks for eight years consecutively, Commercial Bank operates a network of 266 branches and 830 ATMs in Sri Lanka. The Bank has won multiple international and local awards over the years and 40 international awards in 2018.