HDFC helps SLT enhance customer convenience

Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT) signed an agreement with the Housing Development Finance Corporation Bank (HDFC), to facilitate bill payments at the customer's own doorstep through mobile collection teams.

Chief Executive Officer and General Manager of HDFC Bank, Nimal Mamaduwa exchanges the agreement with Group Chief Executive Officer, SLT, Lalith de Silva.

Chief Executive Officer and General Manager of HDFC Bank, Nimal Mamaduwa and Group Chief Executive Officer, SLT, Lalith de Silva signed the agreement recently.

"The agreement will increase customer convenience and enhance the customers' experience with the company. SLT has already enabled the bill payment facility at over 3,000 places islandwide including leading supermarkets, banks and other retail outlets, and online through the company's corporate website," a spokesman for the company said.

With the signing of this agreement, the bill payment facility has been extended to HDFC Bank's branch network of 32 branches islandwide. SLT will use the Bank's doorstep banking facility whereby their mobile collection teams comprising over 300 employees, will make regular visits to SLT customers' homes and nearby central areas, making it convenient for customers to settle their bills.

Group CEO, SLT, Lalith de Silva said, "This is specially useful for customers in Batticaloa, Vavuniya, Mannar, Hambantota and Nuwara Eliya, where the distance between customers' homes and the nearest bill payment outlet is 25 to 30 kilometres."

"We have observed that these customers also face difficulties with regard to transport and due to these issues, their ability to settle bills on time has been adversely affected.

This has sometimes resulted in line disconnections and inconvenience to customers, even though they have sufficient funds to settle bills on time," he said.

"This facility will counter these issues as we will visit the customer's doorstep, helping them to make payments on time, without hassle and enhance their overall experience with SLT," de Silva said. The mobile collection teams will be equipped with palm top machines, which are linked real time to HDFC Bank's Head Office and the SLT billing system. Payments collected will be immediately updated on SLT's billing system.

"We consider it unique to tie-up with Sri Lanka Telecom which is the leading broadband and backbone infrastructure service provider in the country. Improving our technology remains a priority to capitalise on efficiency and productivity gains that can be facilitated through the creative use of IT and other technologies," said CEO, HDFC Bank, Nimal Mamaduwa.