Sampath Bank named Sri Lanka’s “Most Innovative Bank” for 2nd consecutive year

(PRESS RELEASE) - Sampath Bank was recognized as Sri Lanka’s "Most Innovative Bank" for the second consecutive year at the LankaPay Technnovation Awards held at Shangri-La Hotel, Colombo, recently. The Bank also bagged the “Best Bank for Retail Payments” and “Best Common ATM Acquirer of the Year (Category B)” awards and emerged as the overall runners up in the “Excellence in Interbank Payments” and “Best Acquirer on LankaPay Online Payment Platform” categories at the forum. Nanda Fernando, Managing Director, Sampath Bank PLC,accepted the awards on behalf of the Bank along with Pasan Manukith, Head of IT – Systems Development, Sampath Bank PLC, and Ananda Wijitha, Head of IT – Electronic Data Processing, Sampath Bank PLC. The award is yet another testament to the Bank’s contribution to the development of the nation’s financial services industry through its 30 year colourful journey. Right from its inception Sampath Bank has pioneered technological revolutions in the Sri Lankan banking industry delivering innovative products. “We are honored to be recognized as Sri Lanka’s "Most Innovative Bank", two years in a row, at the LankaPay Technnovation Awards.

This, together with the other awards won at the forum, go on to further highlight our continued efforts to leverage technology to add value to all our stakeholders,” said Nanda Fernando, Managing Director, Sampath Bank PLC. “Right from our inception, we have been an early adopter of emerging technologies and the first to introduce several innovative solutions to the country’s banking and financial services sector. And we shall continue to pursue this path to deliver greater value and convenience to our customers and transform Sri Lanka’s financial services landscape.” Organized by LankaClear Ltd., the operator of the LankaPay national payment network, the LankaPay Technnovation Awards seeks to recognize innovators in the realm of payments technology in the country who are committed to promote electronic payments and,thereby, enhance customer convenience. This year’s event saw banks, non-banking financial institutions and FinTech service providers vie for awards across 12 categories.

They were initially shortlisted based on individual performance measured against predefined criteria.An independent and eminent panel of judges chaired by Wasantha Deshapriya,Secretary to the Ministry of Telecommunication and Digital Infrastructure, picked the winners based on presentations made by the shortlisted entities. Established in 1987, Sampath Bank has become a state-of-the-art financial institution that continues to be a market leader today thanks to its constant innovation and customer focused approach to business. Its unique tailor-made solutions, superior services and convenience of access have allowed Sampath Bank to further differentiate itself from the competition and stand out as the bank of choice for many in Sri Lanka.