Com Bank Archives

October 26, 2021

ComBank to upgrade to latest version of Åland Index to expand scope of app’s ‘Save the Environment’ feature

The Commercial Bank of Ceylon has announced a partnership with Doconomy of Sweden, a global leader in impact-tech solutions, to further develop the effectiveness of the Carbon Footprint Calculator in the ‘Flash’ Digital Banking app developed and deployed in Sri Lanka by the Bank.

Doconomy owns the Åland Index, the world’s first e-Environmental Impact Report originally developed by Finland’s Åland Bank. Version 1 of the Åland Index powers the existing ‘Save the Environment’ feature on Flash, and the Bank said its partnership with the index’s new owner would enable the Flash app to upgrade to the latest version, and expand its scope.

By partnering with Doconomy and gaining access to the upgraded API of the index, Commercial Bank has joined the company of pioneering banks in the world to drive carbon footprint reduction among its customers. Furthermore, the integration of the updated index enables the Flash app to capture not just the carbon footprint of immediate service providers, but also of the entire value chain of the goods or services purchased by its users.

Commenting on the partnership with Doconomy, Commercial Bank Managing Director Mr S. Renganathan said: “As Sri Lanka’s first carbon neutral bank, the Commercial Bank has assumed a leadership role in increasing consciousness of the need, not just for organisations but individuals, to be concerned about the environmental impact of their consumption. With the ‘Save the Environment’ feature in the Flash app, we invited our customers to join in our mission to reduce their carbon footprint and contribute towards a greener future.”

“Doconomy’s endorsement of the Flash app’s efficient use of the Åland Index is a great achievement, more so because it tells us that we are on the right track in helping to mitigate the effects of the climate crisis. The partnership holds us to industry benchmark standards of carbon footprint calculations and positions the Flash app’s ‘Save the Environment’ feature among the global leaders in this aspect.”

The Åland Index is a cloud-based service for climate impact calculations and is the leading index solution for CO₂ emission calculations for payments and financial transactions. The Commercial Bank of Ceylon was the first and only bank in Sri Lanka to adopt this free source index version 1.0 when it upgraded the Flash app last year with the ‘Save the Environment’ feature that not only enabled users to compute the environmental impact of their spending but raised awareness about their everyday environmental impact.

Doconomy entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Commercial Bank of Ceylon to offer the latest version of the index. To fulfill the objectives of the MoU, the two parties intend mutual collaboration on CO₂ footprint follow-up of customer transactions, tracking of trends, educational initiatives and communication.

The winner of the award for the ‘Digital Banking Initiative of the Year’ in Sri Lanka at the 2021 Asian Banking and Finance (ABF) awards, Flash is a comprehensive digital banking app that provides financial services required to manage the lifestyle of a customer across aspects such as daily living and utility expenses, budgeting, saving, financing, eCommerce, environmental awareness, and investments.

Founded in Sweden in 2018, Doconomy is a world-leading provider of applied impact solutions. Doconomy seeks to future-proof life on planet earth by empowering individuals and corporations to take responsibility for their environmental footprint. Firmly believing that the climate crisis can only be solved as a collective, Doconomy is also a partner of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Mastercard, S&P Trucost, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), and Parley for the Oceans.

The first Sri Lankan bank to be listed among the Top 1000 Banks of the World and the only Sri Lankan bank to be so listed for 11 years consecutively, Commercial Bank operates a network of 268 branches and 931 automated machines in Sri Lanka. The Bank’s overseas operations encompass Bangladesh, where the Bank operates 19 outlets; Myanmar, where it has a Microfinance company in Nay Pyi Taw; and the Maldives, where the Bank has a fully-fledged Tier I Bank with a majority stake.

October 18, 2021

The Q+ Payment App, Sri Lanka’s first QR-based payment application to be launched under LANKAQR, has surpassed the 100,000 registered customers milestone, doubling its customer base in just five months, the app’s owner the Commercial Bank of Ceylon has announced.

The fastest growing QR app in the country, Q+ Payment App has an easy self-registration process, and is well received by customers owing to the convenience and security it offers them in cashless payment processing when they pay for purchases by scanning QR codes via mobile phones or via the in-app bill payment facility, the Bank said.

Designed as a hassle-free payment alternative for cardholders and vendors, the app gained popularity via a series of Bank-driven promotions in collaboration with popular local retailers and due to its participation in a number of Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) led ‘රටපුරාම LANKAQR’ programs held across the country.

Positioned as the next dimension of payment options, the Q+ Payment App enables cardholders to pay for purchases via their mobile phones simply by scanning the merchant’s QR code. Since the launch, the app underwent several functionality-enhancing upgrades including biometric authentication login for both the consumer and merchant applications, an ‘In-App Bill Payments’ feature that allows customers connected to the Bank’s Debit, Credit or Prepaid cards to pay bills instantly, the facility to promptly settle Credit Card outstanding and top-up Pre-paid Cards, and most recently, the addition of an ‘Online Pay’ feature which enables customers to pay for online purchases by entering their mobile numbers in merchant websites and apps that have ‘Q+ Payment App’ as a payment option.

The ‘In-App Payments’ feature enables Q+ Payment App customers to make payments in many categories such as data reloads, prepaid and post-paid mobiles, fixed telephone lines, water and electricity (CEB and LECO) and pay-TV bills.

The dynamic and interactive customer experience and convenience the app offers are the driving forces behind its popularity, the Bank said. By binding their cards to the Q+ Payment App, ComBank cardholders avoid pulling out the card from their wallets which prevents card losses and card theft. This also encourages the use of environment friendly, paperless-banking features such as Digital receipts and in-App alerts. Payments done using Q+ Payment App require authentication using a static PIN which ensures the safety and security of transactions, making the Q+ Payment App more secure than a normal card.

Customers can add their ComBank Visa, Mastercard and UnionPay cards to the Q+ Payment App, enabling them to perform LankaQR, mVisa, and Mastercard QR transactions. A maximum of five cards can be added to the app. Q+ Payment App is the only payment app in Sri Lanka that supports LankaQR, mVisa, and Mastercard QR transactions. Moreover, the Q+ Payment App is certified for use at overseas QR merchants through the Visa and MasterCard networks.

Sri Lanka’s first fully carbon neutral bank, the first Sri Lankan bank to be listed among the Top 1000 Banks of the World and the only Sri Lankan bank to be so listed for 11 years consecutively, Commercial Bank operates a network of 268 branches and 931 automated machines in Sri Lanka. The Bank’s overseas operations encompass Bangladesh, where the Bank operates 19 outlets; Myanmar, where it has a Microfinance company in Nay Pyi Taw; and the Maldives, where the Bank has a fully-fledged Tier I Bank with a majority stake.

October 20, 2020

The Commercial Bank of Ceylon was crowned ‘The Most Engaging Banking Partner of the Year’ at the Daraz Seller Summit 2020, Sri Lanka’s premier online shopping destination owned by Alibaba Group. The award was presented to the Bank for processing the most number of transactions from a single card base and for sustaining a large base of Debit and Credit Card holders in a single year.

Commercial Bank’s card promotions with Daraz and its collaboration with Ant Financials, Singapore, an affiliate of the Alibaba Group, to improve the success rates of its card transactions were attributed to the Bank achieving its target and winning the coveted award. The Bank has partnered with Daraz both on a campaign basis and with daily offers to provide instalment plans and payment discounts to online shoppers to increase engagement.

The Bank has been a part of the Alibaba ecosystem including Daraz from 2018 and is recognised as the longest partnering bank with Daraz, which is celebrating its fourth anniversary in Sri Lanka in October. The collaborative efforts of both Daraz and Commercial Bank continue to empower Sri Lanka’s digital economy, the Bank said.

‘Flash’ Digital Banking app links with global climate impact calculation leader Doconomy

Over 100,000 customers aboard Q+ Payment app

ComBank adjudged the ‘Most Engaging Banking Partner of the Year’ by Daraz