Commercial Bank takes digital banking to Jaffna

The Commercial Bank of Ceylon actively promoted digital banking options such as Online and Mobile banking services to customers in the Jaffna peninsula recently.

An event conducted by the Bank in Jaffna recently was attended by more than 100 participants who were briefed on the features and advantages of the Bank’s Mobile and Online banking products.

“The rapid growth of business activities in the Jaffna Peninsula needs to be supported with state-of-the-art banking technology and services,” said Mr Pradeep Banduwansa Chief Manager e-Banking. “Commercial Bank is happy to be able to fulfill this need with its advanced digital banking services. Customers were extremely pleased with the presentation made to them on Mobile and Online banking. Many queries related to the services were sorted out and they are excited to use these services.”

The corporate version of Commercial Bank’s Online Banking provides the latest security enhancements for the benefit of corporate customers, such as two layer login; secure image upload were a user can upload a favourite image in to the Online banking portal so that it would be displayed when signing on, facilitating verification of the site prior to entering a password; and a virtual key board that gives the user the option to use an onscreen key board to avoid stealing of passwords.

Viewing images of deposited and presented cheques is also possible for users of this facility. This is the first time a Bank in Sri Lanka has enabled its customers to view images of their deposited and clearing cheques through an online banking platform. Registering of regular payment beneficiaries and executing payments to them 365 days of the year is also now possible. Submission of Letter of Credit applications with supporting document uploading too is possible. The Bank has also enabled a corporate administrator facility for companies to manage their internal user authorities as and when required, conveniently without having to contact the bank. The multilevel authorization module introduced for financial transactions is extremely convenient for corporate clients using this latest Online Banking facility.

The personal version of Commercial Bank’s Online Banking service already enables customers to apply for Fixed Deposits, Personal Loans and Housing Loans, check balances of their current, savings, investment, loan, and credit card accounts, and to transfer funds between own accounts and to registered third parties who have Commercial Bank accounts, on a real-time basis around the clock.

The Online Banking service also supports bill payments to more than 36 entities in nine categories such as Telephone, Electricity, Water, Credit Cards, Insurance, Pay TV, Schools and Rates.

The Bank’s Mobile Banking facility is operated on USSD (Unstructured Supplementary Service Data) technology to communicate with their service providers’ computers.

With its easy to access menu-driven portal, USSD based mobile banking offers greater convenience and functionality enabling users to carryout numerous banking transactions including Account Balance and Credit Card Balance Inquiries, Utility Bill Payments, Fund Transfers, Exchange Rate Inquiries, PIN Changes, Mobile Reloads and request Micro Statements.

Because these services are offered on the USSD platform, they can be accessed via any phone device ranging from a basic phone unit that is in the market and do not require an internet connection.

Additionally, Commercial Bank customers who use Apple and Android mobile devices are provided with a new level of convenience with the Bank’s mobile App. Offering both on and off line functionality, the App which can be downloaded free of charge enables users to conduct a wide range of transactions and view key information on their mobile phones 24 hours of the day.

Among the online features are a dashboard view for account inquiry and bank notifications sent via secure messages, credit card balance inquiry, bill settlement, current cycle of transactions and online payment history, inquiries on investments and loans, payments and online payment history, transfer of funds between own and registered accounts with online transfer history, and password changes.
The offline menu provides locations of Commercial Bank branches and ATMs, exchange and interest rates, general notices, a ‘Help’ feature and the ‘Contact us’ option.

The only Sri Lankan bank to be ranked among the Top 1000 banks of the world for four consecutive years (2011-2014), Commercial Bank now operates a network of 242 branches and 610 ATMs in Sri Lanka. The bank has won multiple awards as Sri Lanka’s best bank over several years, and was adjudged one of the country’s 10 best corporate citizens by the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce in 2013 and 2014. The bank has been rated the Most Respected Bank in Sri Lanka by LMD for the past 10 years, has been the second Most Respected Corporate entity in the country overall for the past four years, and been rated No 1 in Sri Lanka for Honesty in 2013 and 2014 by the magazine.