Sampath Bank has started using image clearing technology to process cheques even before Sri Lanka’s national cheque clearing centre, Lanka Clear is ready to move into cheque truncation. Truncation is a digital clearing system that will eliminate the physical transport of cheques among bank branches.
When a Tissamaharama branch cheque comes from the national clearing house to Sampath Bank's head office in Colombo, it is no longer sent back to the branch.
It is immediately paid from the central processing centre in Colombo, with no physical transport of cheques.
As a result Sampath Bank cheques from anywhere in the country, behave just like Colombo cheques.
"When the cheque comes to the department it does not move thereafter.
The back office uses the image of it," Anil Amarasuriya, Managing Director, Sampath Bank said.
In manual processing the cheque has to be sent to various departments for endorsements and verifications.
In Truncation the image could be called up vi