Seylan Bank recently signed an agreement with Union Pay International (UPI), to enable UnionPay Credit and Debit Cardholders to utilise the bank’s ATM and Point of Sale (POS) network to carry out financial transactions locally.
The partnership permits UnionPay Cardholders from China and other parts of the world to withdraw cash from the bank’s 210 ATM terminals located across the country and carry out Card payments at over 15,000 merchants, who are equipped with Seylan’s highly secure MPAY/POS system.
Commenting on the partnership, Tilan Wijeyesekera – Deputy General Manager, Retail Banking at Seylan Bank PLC said “As one of the country’s leading private Banks, we believe that this tie up will play an integral role in furthering the local tourism and trade potential. As China continues to grow with its record breaking outbound tourism across the Asian region, this partnership will further strengthen the local resources to support the influx of Chinese tourists to Sri Lanka. With this alliance we will be enabling UnionPay Cardholders’ with the convenience of wider card acceptance and empowering the local merchants to expand their services and grow their businesses. Our long-term vision is to support the local tourism and trade industry by facilitating the inflow of tourists and increase China’s contribution as an important market for tourism and trade sector. In addition, as the bank with the largest MPOS network in the country, we are also focusing on enabling the SME and Micro sector with value-added digital banking services to further increase their contribution to the local economy. Further, we are also rolling out our planned off-site ATM network in addition to the new Cash deposit machines and cash recyclers to offer a comprehensive banking experience to our valued customers.”
According to the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA), Sri Lanka crossed the 200,000 tourist arrival mark for a single month again as arrivals in August 2018 rose 4.9 percent year-on-year (YoY) to 200,359, a significant growth in arrival of Tourist from across the globe.
Commenting on how Seylan MPOS has become the most sought after product in Sri Lanka, Jayanath Dias- Head of Cards at Seylan Bank said “Over the years, we have taken swift measures to improve our POS and ATM terminals with state of the art technology. As a result, we became the number one bank by empowering over 15,000 merchants across the country with Seylan MPAY solution and established us as the second largest merchant acquiring bank in the Country in terms of number of merchant locations provided with card acceptance. With a strong focus to create a ‘less cash’ economy, we introduced Seylan MPAY in 2016. Since the introduction, Seylan MPAY has become the most sought after POS solution due to its convenient, reliable and secure payment system. We are also in the process of aligning our services to uplift our ATM and infrastructure network to fulfil the standards of Payment Application Data Security Standard (PA DSS) PCI - DSS standards as well.”
UnionPay operates the inter-bank clearing and settlement system, develops the worldwide UnionPay Card acceptance network and promotes the issuance and usage of the Union Pay Card as well as other innovative payment solutions, so as to provide quality, efficient and safe payment services to cardholders. Over the years, UnionPay International has enabled card acceptance in 169 countries and regions with issuance in 48 countries and regions. To date, the total number of UnionPay Cards issued at home and overseas has exceeded 2.9 billion and the UnionPay network has been extended to all cities and rural areas in China.
Seylan Bank, operates with a vision to offer the ultimate banking experience to its valued customers and is evolving rapidly with new technology, innovative products and services to set a new benchmark in the banking sector. The Bank has expanded its footprint with over 169 branches across the Country and boasts an ATM network of over 210 units covering crucial locations. Seylan Bank has a growing clientele of SME’s, Retail, and Corporate customers and has been recognised in the global arena for its excellence in digital initiatives.
From Left: Harsha Wanigatunga- Chief Information Officer, Seylan Bank, Jayanath Dias- Head of Cards Seylan Bank, Kapila Ariyaratne- Director/CEO of Seylan Bank , Mr.Larry Wang – Vice President, UnionPay International, Ms. Shao Min – Deputy General Manager, UnionPay International Hong Kong Branch, Mr.Derek Chang – Senior Head of South Asia, UnionPay International.
