Sri Lanka-Japan joint venture launches National Card Scheme programme
The commercial roll-out of the National Card Scheme (NCS) programme of Sri Lanka has reportedly been announced by LankaClear Ltd. (LankaClear), the operator of LankaPay, together with JCB International Co., Ltd. (JCBI), which is the international operations subsidiary of JCB Co. Ltd.
The local media has reported that the roll-out was done after successfully completing the pilot stage since the announcement of the strategic partnership in June 2017 and that the commercial roll-out of the NCS programme, LankaPay/JCB co-badged payment cards are now accepted at ATMs and merchants on JCB network, globally.
Accordingly, this partnership has also enabled JCB cardholders worldwide to use their cards at ATMs and POS terminals within Sri Lanka.
Under the NCS programme, MCB Bank, Regional Development Bank, HDFC Bank of Sri Lanka, Siyapatha Finance, Sampath Bank and many more banks will issue EMV enabled LankaPay/JCB co-badged cards and it also marks the first-ever JCB branded card issued in Sri Lanka.
At the commercial roll-out announcement held during the LankaPay Technovation Awards 2019, LankaClear General Manager/CEO Channa de Silva has been quoted as saying, “This partnership between LankaClear and JCBI is intended to help Sri Lanka to have its own National Card Scheme (NCS) adhering to the highest international standards. LankaPay/JCB cards will follow the same EMVCo standards in terms of technology and security. This would result in lower transaction costs for both banks and merchants in Sri Lanka when facilitating payments via NCS cards issued by the banks. Sri Lankan cardholders could also benefit from the payment experience at JCB merchants outside Sri Lanka, as well as entitle to various international services and promotions offered by JCBI.”
JCB International Co., Ltd. President and COO Kimihisa Imada has said, “We are very pleased and honoured to have the very first JCB cards in Sri Lanka collaborated with the national payment network, LankaPay. As Sri Lanka is one of the most attractive tourist destination countries in the world, especially for the travellers from other JCB card issued countries such as India, JCB appreciates LankaClear and LankaPay member banks for the strongest and continuous effort so far and ongoing to enable JCB acceptance at local ATMs and merchants. JCB keeps supporting LankaPay network with our payment technology for secure transactions locally and globally, and with our unique international brand services to enrich the customer experience of LankaPay/JCB card members. We also look forward to seeing further achievement in the card product development area in the near future.”
OSL take:
The government of Sri Lanka has adopted a policy of transforming the country’s economy into an e-economy. Many measures have been taken to promote the concept by way of introducing new programmes and incentives to businesses engaged in digital infrastructure development. Foreign businesses engaged in promoting concepts of e-economy and digital infrastructure development could explore the business/investment opportunities in Sri Lanka’s digital infrastructure development sector.
| Article Code : | VBS/AT/18102019/Z_1 |