LankaPay Technnovation Awards 2018 organized by LankaClear Pvt Ltd, the operator of LankaPay national payment network, kicked off on 2nd August 2018 at a press conference held at Galadari Hotel, Colombo. The objective of the awards competition is to recognize the torchbearers of payment technology innovations in the country who have steadfast to the cause of promoting electronic payments and constantly thriving for enhancing customer convenience.

LankaPay Technnovation Awards is Sri Lanka’s first and the only annual payment technology innovation awards held for the second consecutive year after the resounding success achieved at the inaugural event last year. Scheduled to be held at the Shangri-la Hotel Colombo on 20th September 2018 under the patronage of Chief Guest, Hon. Harin Fernando, Minister of Telecommunication, Digital Infrastructure and Foreign Employment and Guest of Honour, Dr. Indrajit Coomaraswamy, Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka. The event will also feature an international keynote speaker, who will shed light into a topic of contemporary significance in relation to the future of payment technology, adding further value to the audience.

With rapid technological advancements and increasingly dynamic lifestyles, consumers of services have become increasingly mobile in their behaviour. Hence, being able to carry out their business, occupation or daily chores from wherever they are has become the new norm of convenience. The services they consume have to be omnipresent or location independent and must address their mobile lifestyle needs. In this backdrop, LankaPay Technnovation Awards 2018, conducted under the theme “EC – Recognizing Excellence and Convenience”, intends to recognize the payment technology innovators who have successfully addressed the emerging lifestyle needs of people by taking customer convenience to new heights.

Initiated last year in a quest to drive financial inclusivity in the country, which is a key objective of the Central Bank, LankaPay Technnovation Awards intends to enhance the efficiency of the country’s national payment network. Award criteria for 2018 considers interbank payments during the period from 1st April 2017 to 31st March 2018. Banks, non-banking financial institutions and FinTech service providers who have steadfast to this cause and exceled in this endeavor will be vying for recognition under 15 categories. The categories they would be competing include Overall Winner for Excellence in Interbank Payments-Banking Category, Overall Winner for Excellence in Interbank Payments-Non-Banking Category, Bank of the Year for Excellence in Customer Convenience, Best Common ATM Acquirer of the Year, Best Bank for Seamless Back-end Operations Bank of the Year for Financial Inclusivity, Most Innovative Bank of the Year, Financial Institution of the Year for Customer Convenience, Most Popular Electronic Payment Product-banking and non-banking financial institutions, Most Popular Electronic Payment Product-FinTech category, Best Mobile Payment Application of the Year, Best Bank for Retail Payments, Best Application for Retail Payments, Best Acquirer on LankaPay Online Payment Platform and Best Acquirer for US Dollar Online Clearing.

The initial shortlisting would be carried out based on the performance of individual banks, non-banking financial institutions and FinTech service providers against a set criteria defined and communicated at the beginning of the period, which would also be subjected to an independent audit. At the second phase of judging, the shortlisted winners need to be present before an independent and eminent Panel of Judges as to how they have achieved that performance. The Chairman of the Panel of Judges of LankaPay Technnovation Awards 2018 would be Mr. Wasantha Deshapriya, Secretary to the Ministry of Telecommunication and Digital Infrastructure who played the same role in the previous year’s competition as well. The other members of the panel of judges are Mr. Asite Talwatte FCA, FCMA, MBA (SriJ), Chairman Management Systems (Pvt) Ltd and Past President CIMA and CA Sri Lanka, Mr. Lasantha Wickremasinghe, Past President, Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka and Partner BR De Silva, Mr. Rajeeva Bandaranaike, Chief Executive Officer of Colombo Stock Exchange, Mr. Dulith Herath, Founder and Chairman of Kapruka.com, Mr. Jagath Perera, President CA Sri Lanka and Mrs. Anushya Coomaraswamy, Director – Janashakthi Insurance, Advisor to the Ministry of Finance and former Group Finance Director of John Keels Holdings. The independent panel of judges would make the final determination of the winners.