Sampath Bank Rises as Preferred Cash Management Partner for Businesses Across Segments

Sampath Bank announced that it had registered a strong growth in demand for its Cash Management Solutions (CMS) from businesses across the island during 2021 and is showing steady growth.

Leading enterprises of all sizes from a wide range of industries including Automobile Spare Parts, Banking and Finance, Consumer Electronics, Courier and Transportation Services, Education (Schools and Higher Education Institutions), Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) (Manufacturing and Distribution), Hospitality (Food and Beverage Service), Information Technology, Telecommunications, Healthcare, Insurance etc. have chosen Sampath Bank as their preferred cash management partner.

This demand is primarily driven by the appeal of Sampath Bank’s robust cash management portfolio which offers services such as Cash and Cheque Collection, Cheque Printing and Distribution, Investment Portfolio Management, Business Debit Cards, Data Validation, Reconciliation Services, Integration to customer ERPs and Sweeping and Pooling of Funds.

Clients are also delighted by the convenience of being able to access these services from anywhere in the island through Sampath Bank’s vast array of secure digital solutions as well as its extensive nationwide physical footprint with 229 branches including 13 Super Branches, 445 ATMs and 465 cash deposit kiosks.

They also admire Sampath Bank’s commitment towards bringing these services together and their mastery in building tailormade solutions to address the client’s unique requirements. Being developed inhouse by the Bank’s highly skilled IT team, these customized solutions can easily be adapted to suit businesses of all sizes and integrated into their existing systems.

This is perfectly illustrated by the customer validation capabilities offered by the bank to its cash management clients. With this service, customers or business partners making payments to the client through Sampath Bank’s systems can input the organization’s own predefined reference numbers or codes such as customer ID, location codes, etc. that are recognized by its finance systems. This goes a long way in simplifying the accounting and reconciliation processes at the client’s end.

Another case in point is how Sampath Bank enables clients to stipulate specific amounts for each type of transaction to minimize human error and ensure that the right amount is deposited every time.

The significance of these added capabilities can be easily understood by looking at the real-life case of an organization deploying these systems, such as a school. Parents will be able to simply key in their child’s student ID and pay the school fees through Sampath Bank’s systems without having to input the school’s account number or any other information. The school can specify the fee to be paid by each student and restrict deposits of any other values from being accepted. The system will recognize the unique IDs, access the fee information on the school’s database, accept deposits of the specified amounts from parents and notify the school’s finance systems when the payments have been made.

Since these systems are built by the Bank’s own team members, the client- who is in this case, the school- can conveniently change any parameters and add or remove any functions at any given time.

Moreover, Sampath Bank also offers Cash and Cheque collection as a part of its corporate cash management solutions, which drastically simplifies the clients’ operations. It brings the bank’s service providers to the client’s doorstep for cash and cheque collection, eliminating any associated hassle of transport and saving the client’s time. Once the service providers have completed the collection, the bank will credit these to the client’s account on the same day, ensuring their operational efficiency and smooth fund management.  

Cheque Printing and Distribution, another service of the cash management portfolio, allows clients to pre-print cheques and dividend warrants in bulk and fill in the necessary details when required. Sampath Bank is also hopeful that more features will be added to this service in the near future and assures that developments are underway in making it a fully-fledged solution.  

The cash management portfolio also offers business debit cards to clients who favour the smooth handling of daily business purchases and petty cash requirements, stamping out the inconvenience and risk of carrying around cash. Clients who use this service are able to make local purchases as well as opt in to make international payments depending on their preference.

Clients are also able to manage their investment portfolios, which allows them to make their idle cash generate returns through the bank’s collection of cash sweeping, cash pooling and short-term money market investment options. 

Recognizing the immense value delivered by Sampath Bank’s suite of corporate cash management solutions, even more enterprises are beginning to avail themselves of these services to manage their cashflow more efficiently, reduce processing costs, save time, and minimize risk, enabling their leaders to focus their efforts and resources on core business operations and, thereby, grow the business.

Despite the contemporary obstacles faced by the banking sector in Sri Lanka, Sampath Bank has successfully maintained all its capital ratios well above regulatory requirements throughout 2021. With a total asset value of Rs. 1.2 trillion, this reflects strongly as an indication of the Bank’s stability. Meanwhile, its deposit book stood at Rs 978 Bn at the end of 2021, and continues to enjoy a year on year growth rate of 10.3%. All the while, Sampath Bank has implemented all government-led moratorium schemes for eligible customer segments affected by the pandemic. The Bank’s digitalisation strategy has also continued to prove its worth during these trying times by securing a more accessible and safer banking experience for customers.

Sampath Bank is a 100% local bank that has deeply rooted itself in the hearts of the people of Sri Lanka. Established in 1987, the 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. It has introduced many firsts to the Sri Lankan banking sector including the introduction of ATMs to Sri Lanka, extended banking hours, slip-less banking and touchless ATM withdrawals, to name a few. The Bank continues to steadily transform itself into a technology-driven financial services provider whilst keeping true to our traditions and values.