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2020-08-31 | Reference No. 34/01/001/026/001

Central Bank of Sri Lanka Extension of Online Banking and Digital Account Opening Deadlines

The Central Bank of Sri Lanka extends the compliance deadline for online banking registration and digital wallet account opening to 31 December 2020 to accommodate COVID-19 travel restrictions. Licensed banks and finance companies are required to waive registration fees, implement secure digital identification methods, and verify Know-Your-Customer details within 30 days of account opening. The directive further restricts wallet funding to online transfers only and warns of regulatory action for non-compliance with these financial intelligence unit requirements.

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[Logo] ශ්‍රී ලංකා මහ බැංකුව இலங்கை மத்திய வங்கி CENTRAL BANK OF SRI LANKA

ගෙවීම් සහ පියවීම් දෙපාර්තමේන්තුව | கொடுப்பனவுகள், தீர்ப்பனவுகள் திணைக்களம் | Payments and Settlements Department

31 August 2020

Ref: 34/01/001/026/001

To: CEOs of All Licensed Commercial Banks, Licensed Specialized Banks and Licensed Finance Companies

Dear Sir/Madam

Providing Online Banking Services and Opening of Accounts to Facilitate Online Payments

This is with reference to the Circular letters dated 31 May 2020 and 26 April 2020 on the above and the Circular letter dated 20 March 2020 on Providing Online Banking Services and the Circular letter dated 26 March 2020 on Opening of Accounts to Facilitate Online Payments.

  1. Considering the current situation in the country due to COVID -19 outbreak, the need of customers to use online Banking Services due to travel restrictions in the country and the requests made by the Financial Institutions, the time period granted for the following will be extended to 31 December 2020.

    i. For enabling online registration facilities for existing customers for the provision of online banking services, adopting appropriate security measures for customer identification. Further, you are requested to waive off registration fees and charges for new registrations during this period and encourage customers to obtain online banking services.

    ii. For opening of wallets or wallet facilitation accounts fulfilling the Know-Your-Customer (KYC) requirements digitally, subject to adhering to the following conditions. a. All Licensed Commercial Banks (LCBs), Licensed Specialized Banks (LSBs) and Licensed Finance Companies (LFCs) shall follow a secure identification method when onboarding customers. b. All LCBs, LSBs and LFCs shall verify the KYC details obtained digitally, in order to fulfill the KYC requirements as specified by the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) within 30 days of opening such wallets/wallets facilitation accounts.

Contd.

8 වන මහල, අංක 30, ජනාධිපති මාවත, | 8 ஆம் மாடி, இல. 30 ஜனாதிபதி மாவத்தை, கொழும்பு 1 | Level 8, No. 30, Janadhipathi Mawatha, Colombo 1 තැ. පෙ. 590, කොළඹ 01, ශ්‍රී ලංකාව | த. பெ. இல. 590, கொழும்பு 01, இலங்கை | P. O. Box. 590, Colombo 01, Sri Lanka. 📞 94 11 2477042 📠 94 11 2387009 | ✉️ psd@cbsl.lk | 🌐 www.cbsl.gov.lk

c. Fund receipts to wallets or wallets facilitation accounts shall only be made by way of online fund transfers from any account with any LCB, LSB or LFC and over-the counter deposits shall not be accepted.

  1. CBSL will take necessary regulatory action on any LCB, LSB or LFC that fails to fulfill the KYC requirements as specified by FIU within the stipulated time period given above.

Yours faithfully,

[Signature]

M R Wijewardena Addl. Director/ Payments and Settlements

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