Sri Lanka Mobile Phone Payment System in Place by Year End

02nd September 2010, www.dailynews.lk, By Charumini De Silva

The Central Bank hopes to introduce mobile phone payment systems to Sri Lanka by the end of this year. The Central Bank has drafted the guidelines for mobile phone payment systems and called for public comments.

The guidelines are issued with the aim of promoting safety and effectiveness of mobile payment schemes.

These guidelines have been sent to mobile service providers, banking and financial institutions for observation, a senior Central Bank official told Daily News Business.

Through this system account holders are able to operate their own accounts via mobile phones to debit or credit to their own accounts or credit accounts of third parties within the same bank or in another network. The mobile payment system is also a retail payment system, which is much secure, safe and easy. This will support to increase the mobile usage and bank transactions more frequently.

The mobile payment system is also helpful for the rural community where they could access their bank accounts without coming to the city. The Central Bank is taking all measures to ensure the security and the safety of the transactions to build the trust of consumers.

The Central Bank has not yet finalized the prices of the registration fee, but it will be a reasonable amount where all segments of communities can afford.

They also expect a good response from the young generation who are interested in the latest technology.