NCS Group, a leading regional information technology and communications engineering service provider in the Asia Pacific and Middle East regions, has successfully implemented the Mobile Banker System, enabling the two subsidiaries of Ceylinco Consolidated, Seylan Bank and The Finance Co. Ltd, to offer banking and financial services respectively for its customers.

This concept will revolutionise the manner in which banking and financial services is done in Sri Lanka, and is in line with the vision of its Chairman, Deshamanya Dr. Lalith Kotelawala to bring banking and financial services to the people anywhere, anytime. With this new system, both Seylan Bank and the Finance Co Ltd’s customers now have the choice of conducting banking and financial transactions at the home or work place instead of going to a branch or near-by ATMs. This system will revolutionise the way of conducting banking and financial transactions especially in developing countries where customers in villages may need to take hours to commute from home to a near-by branch for banking or financial services. It also provides the bank and the finance company a new channel that can be used to expand the customer base and enhance loyalty. The contract was awarded to NCS in January 2007. NCS is responsible for the design, development and implementation of the Mobile Banker System. It only took NCS less than 10 months to implement the Mobile Banker System. The system will be rolled out on a progressive basis across the island from today. The Mobile Banker System enables the business development officer (BDOs) of the Seylan Bank and the Finance Co Ltd to carry out secure banking and financial transactions on the Personal Digital Assistant (PDA). Each BDO will be equipped with a PDA and a small portable printing device. They can perform functions such as cash and cheque deposits, cash withdrawal, remittance disbursement, loan application and account opening at this stage. Additional services will be introduced in the future. Through the Mobile Banker System, the BDO is able to retrieve relevant customer information, aiding his understanding of the customer’s total relationship with the bank or the finance company. If a customer wishes to apply for a loan, the BDO can submit the loan application electronically, and the system will perform customer credit checking. Once the customer creditworthiness is ascertained, he will be able to provide an in-principle approval to the customer on the spot. Dr Chong Yoke Sin, CEO, NCS Group, said: “With mobile devices being truly ubiquitous, banks can now deliver mobile banking services to the consumers. NCS’ solution provides Ceylinco Consolidated a convenient new channel for conducting banking and financial business, giving it an advantage over the competition by being first to market. With the mobile device becoming the branch, it will allow Ceylinco Consolidated to reach out to the customers beyond the current branch network rapidly and without the burden of physical infrastructure. The Mobile Banker System offers anytime, anywhere information and services for its people on the go and provides reliable, secure transaction service - the ultimate in banking convenience in a secure IT environment.” “NCS has consistently delivered the reliability, availability, and performance demanded for mission-critical applications, backed up by solid support. The launch of Mobile Banker System further reinforces NCS’ position as a top tier IT services provider status in both the Asia and Middle East regions with best-in-class technology and differentiated solutions for business,” she added.