First mobile money and payment service:

Dialog launches eZ-cash

By Surekha GALAGODA

The country’s first Mobile Money service eZ Cash was launched by Dialog Axiata, the company which revolutionised the mobile telephone market.

DG Telecommunication Regulatory Commission Anusha Palpita, Dr. Hans Wijayasuriya and Central Bank Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal at the launch

The custodian services for this pioneering effort will be provided by Hatton National Bank PLC, while the Trustee will be Deutsche Bank. The mobile phone has transformed our lives and people's dependency on it has increased and most of all the mobile phone enables secure transactions. This service enables customers to maintain a mobile money account on their phones, using the eZ cash mobile money account.

Customers can now send and receive money, settle utility bills and make payments for goods and services through the mobile phone and it will benefit 7.5million Dialogue users. “ We are privileged to lead Sri Lanka’s mobile industry in to the era of Mobile Money, an era which will see the mobile phone become a versatile cash-transacting and payment instrument”, said Director and Group Chief Executive Dialog Axiata PLC, Dr Hans Wijayasuriya.

This technology will transform the way people transact cash, enabling electronic money interchange and electronic payment to be brought within the reach of every Sri Lankan.Dr Wijayasuriya said that all this was possible due to the progressive financial inclusion-focused regulatory ethos of the Central Bank.

Sri Lanka’s Payments and Settlements legislation and mobile payment regulations stand among the most progressive in the world.

Dr Wijayasuriya said that the support and facilitation received from the Central Bank,Telecommunication Regulatory Authority and the custodian Bank HNB, Dialog is confident that this pioneering initiative to deliver a nationwide mobile money service will usher an unprecedented level of financial inclusion through the empowerment of millions of Sri Lankans with electronic money transfer and payment facilities .

At present there are 10000 e-Z cash outlets and Dialog will increase it to 20,000 in six months. Senior DGM HNB, Nihal Kekulawala said that HNB as the custodian Bank will ensure regulatory compliance.

A mobile money account on phones

With the launch of Dialog's Mobile Money service – eZ Cash, over 7.5 Million Dialog Mobile users can register for an eZ Cash account by dialing #111# from their mobile phone.

A registered eZ Cash subscriber can then load money in to his/her mobile phone at any one of over 10,000 eZ Cash outlets across Sri Lanka. Loading money would also be made possible at Supermarkets and via Bank branches.

ATMs and Internet and Phone Banking services of Sri Lanka's leading banking institutions. Sending and receiving money between eZ Cash accounts as well as making payments for goods, services and utilities and for the purchase of items over the Internet, is then as easy as sending an SMS with the aid of an user-friendly and tri-lingual menu on the mobile phone.

While advanced mobile money technology has made transacting cash from a mobile phone easy to use, every transaction if protected by a subscriber defined PIN Number and secured by 3DES authentication and transaction Security protocols. Recently Dialog became the first Licensed Electronic Payments provider in Sri Lanka to receive Payment Cards Industry – Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS) certification for the compliance of its electronic payments systems with the global standard.

Customers of the service can also withdraw money from their eZ Cash accounts at over 10,000 eZ Cash outlets, which in combine with the 7.5 Million strong Dialog mobile user base makes the eZ Cash Network, the largest money interchange network in the country.

Dialog's eZ Cash Mobile Payment System is further secured through the institution of a Trust Instrument administered by Deutsche Bank AG. The Tri-Partite Trust instrument between HNB, Deutsche Bank and Dialog Axiata PLC defined under the aegis of the regulations stipulated by the Central Bank enshrines eZ Cash within a customer protection environment on par with Global best practice.