People’s Bank further illustrated its dominance in Sri Lanka’s digital banking sphere by winning two awards at the fourth edition of the LankaPay Technnovation Awards, Sri Lanka’s pioneering and the only payment technology innovation awards, held at the Shangri-La Colombo recently.

People’s Bank mobile payment app People's Pay won the Gold award for ‘Best Mobile Application for Retail Payments via LankaQR (Banks and Non-Bank Financial Institutions)’ while the People's Wave bagged the Merit award for ‘Most Popular Digital Payment Product (Banks and Non-Bank Financial Institutions - Internet Banking)’. People's Bank was also bestowed with a special appreciation for its unwavering support towards the LankaPay National Payment Card. People's Bank was represented at the event by Chairman Sujeewa Rajapakse, Chief Executive Officer/General Manager Ranjith Kodituwakku, and Chief Digital Officer Mangala Kariyawasam.

Sharing his thoughts, People’s Bank Chairman Sujeewa Rajapakse observed, “Even before the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic, People’s Bank had set the benchmark in Sri Lanka for revolutionizing the use of digital tools and technologies in the Banking industry. The pandemic has certainly created challenges of unseen proportions and as the pride of the nation, it is the duty of People’s Bank to lead from the front when it comes to forging a path towards recovery by leveraging the power of digital technology. The Bank has already made significant progress in this regard as these accolades clearly demonstrate and we will always remain laser-focused on doing what is best for the nation and the people.”

Commenting on the award wins, People’s Bank Chief Executive Officer/General Manager Ranjith Kodituwakku stated, “We embarked on our journey to revolutionize Sri Lanka’s Banking industry in the year 2015 by taking a pioneering role in digitalization and customer engagement. Since then, People’s Bank has been consistently delivering a number of diversified, world-class digital banking solutions that have been readily embraced by our growing urban and rural customer base, primarily because they provided enhanced convenience, speed, efficiency and security. These latest accolades further reinforce our position as the country’s leader in digital banking. We are proud to have won these awards but we will not rest on our laurels. We continue to push the envelope when it comes to developing digital solutions of international standards and support the nation’s evolution into a digital society.”

People’s Pay Mobile Payment App was developed to support the Central Bank of Sri Lanka's efforts to promote cashless transactions in the country. It was also specially designed to provide the People’s Bank’s growing customer base, especially young adults, with the opportunity to experience a world-class mobile banking solution that provides lifestyle features to enhance their user experience. The app is available in English, Sinhala and Tamil, which enables it to reach a wider audience especially in rural areas where Sinhala and Tamil language is preferred over English. People’s Pay enables self registration for LankaQR, which aims to encourage small businesses to transition to digital channels. The app facilitates fast, secure and low fee digital payments to any merchants, especially Small and Medium Enterprise (SMEs) while providing merchants more security and controls over payments.

People’s Wave is a revolutionary and the most downloaded finance app in Sri Lanka with over 1 million active users since its launch in 2018. Integrated to the Bank’s core system, the app allows customers to carry out a wide range of different banking transactions from the comfort of their homes or offices, without having to step into a branch. The app offers many useful features including balance inquiries of multiple accounts, loans and credit cards, payments, bill payments, transaction history, fund transfers to own or third-party People’s Bank or other bank accounts and set future-date transfers and standing orders. With over 70% of active People’s Wave users outside the Western Province, the app has made a significant contribution to the Bank’s mission of driving financial inclusivity.

LankaPay Technnovation Awards is organized by LankaClear, the operator of the country’s national payment network. It aims to recognize the best payment technology innovations in the country that have been instrumental in promoting digital payments, thereby enhancing customer convenience. Held under the theme ‘Honouring the Digital Superheroes’, LankaPay Technnovation Awards 2022 aimed to recognize the significant contributions made by Banks, NBFIs and FinTech companies to support the national economy and deliver payment technology innovations in the face of numerous challenges.