In Sri Lanka, the payment industry is presently going through a swift change because of the introduction of current payment instruments, methods, and procedures. Together with the customary payment means, these new payment procedures have entirely reshaped the customer encounter and allowed businesses and consumers to handle their financial transactions securely and accurately.

In this background, having recognized the requirement for a local publication on payment services to instruct the general public, the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) decided to release a booklet, ‘A Guide to Payment Services in Sri Lanka’ depicting the payment instruments/ways and the infrastructures in Sri Lanka. The booklet was given to Dr. P. Nandalal Weerasinghe, Governor of CBSL by Mr. D. Kumaratunge, Assistant Governor of CBSL on the 12th of April.

The booklet offers a comprehensive description of customary as well as newly introduced payment instruments like Cheques, Payment Cards, Mobile Payment Applications which include QR Code-based transactions (LANKAQR), and Payment, Clearing, and Settlement Systems like Real Time Gross Settlement System, Sri Lanka Interbank Payment System, Mobile Phone-based e-money Systems, etc. The booklet also describes the Retail Payment Infrastructure which includes the Common ATM Switch, Common Point-of-Sale Switch, Common Electronic Fund Transfer Switch (CEFTS), and well-known payment products based on CEFTS which include LankaPay Online Payment Platform, JustPay, and Direct Debit.

This booklet is written in an understandable format with FAQs and graphs which include transaction flow charts assisting the general public to effortlessly comprehend how financial transactions can be handled with greater ease. The booklet also offers comprehensive descriptions of the technical words utilized, so that supervisors, teachers, and particularly those in higher studies can benefit by increasing their understanding of the subject matter. Employees of financial institutions can utilize this booklet as a guide in their daily work, thereby assisting customer queries and enhancing their customer satisfaction. 

The electronic version of this booklet will be available for downloading from the CBSL website as an e-book and interested people will be able to buy the printed copy from CBSL sales counters, in the future.

Photo – Mr. D. Kumaratunge, Assistant Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka handing over the booklet – ‘A Guide to Payment Services in Sri Lanka’ to Dr. P. Nandalal Weerasinghe, Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka in the company of Mrs. T M J Y P Fernando, Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, Mr. M R Wijewardena, Director Payments and Settlements and Mr. A M T N Athapathu, Senior Assistant Director of Payments and Settlements Department.