Portable Money

Sept 1, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka's Sampath Bank's has started an electronic cash transfer method lets account holders transfer cash to all mobile brands or CDMA phone, officials said. "This facility will let customers send money to any person with a mobile phone or a CDMA phone without changing SIM cards. All you need is an account with Sampath Bank," Anil Amarasuriya, managing director of Sampath Bank said.

Electronic cash facilities that have been introduced in Sri Lanka sometimes were limited to a single mobile service provider, unlike Sampath's 'Mobile Cash' system.

Sampath's new transaction method further simplifies operation, since it is platform independent.

Account holders have the freedom to remit money through their mobile phone to a CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) or another mobile phone user using a different mobile service.

"That is the unique feature of this system," Amarasuriya says.

The system also lets customers pay for products provided the merchant is equipped with a Point of Sale (PoS) machine, through which money can be received by the remitter.

The system has been developed by Sampath's in-house software development team excep