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Colombo, February 20 2019: National Carrier SriLankan Airlines and fast expanding Cargills Bank signed an agreement to enable payments to be made at Cargills Bank branches and Cargills Food City outlets island-wide for online bookings made through wwwsrilankan.com, to provide even greater convenience to air travelers.

SriLankan’s ‘Book Now Pay Later’ is a unique solution which brings utmost convenience to air travelers through a synergy of online booking and payments through a wide range of touchpoints. This partnership will provide customers with added convenience by enabling payments to be made via “Cargills Cash” at over 350 Cargills Food City outlets and all branches in the Cargills Bank network which is rapidly expanding, for their air tickets purchased at www.srilankan.com

“Cargills Cash” is the unique differentiator of Cargills Bank which has led to its positioning the brand as a leading digital bank. Today, “convenience” has become the talk of the town and Cargills Bank revolutionized the banking industry by offering their customers the unique banking experience of being able to deposit, withdraw and send cash through over 370 Cargills Food City outlets island-wide from 8.00.a.m. to 10.p.m. 365 days of the year, allowing customers to do grocery shopping and banking at the same time.

Commenting on the partnership Mr. Vipula Gunatilleka, Group Chief Executive Officer of SriLankan, said: “The Book Now Pay Later facility has already facilitated SriLankan Airlines’ customers all over Sri Lanka and also in the UAE with unprecedented convenience and the ability to obtain online promotions and discounts. This tie-up will allow SriLankan Airlines to further enhance this service with the enabling of payments under the solution with Cargills Bank.”

“We are delighted to partner with Sri Lankan Airlines and extend the convenience for passengers to pay their tickets at over 370 Cargills Food City outlets across the country. This partnership is another example of our commitment to financial inclusion and we look forward to working closely with our national carrier to make a difference to all Sri Lankans” said Mr. Rajendra Theagarajah, Managing Director/CEO of Cargills Bank Limited.

The Book Now Pay Later process is amazingly simple. Travelers can book their tickets online on www.srilankan.com for any flight, with bookings to be made a minimum of 72 hours before flight departure outbound from Colombo or the United Arab Emirates. When they choose the ‘Pay Later’ option, the customer receives a confirmation e-mail with a Booking Reservation Number and guidelines on how to make the payment. The system will hold their booking for a maximum of 48 hours for the payment to be made, which can now be done through the nationwide network of Cargills outlets and Cargills Bank branches. The ‘Book now Pay later’ service is especially designed for those who don’t have credit cards, those whose credit limits are insufficient for their travel requirements, or credit card holders who simply don’t want to use their cards to make purchases online.

As a member of the oneworld global airline partnership, SriLankan Airlines operates a route network of 111 destinations in 48 countries from its hub in Colombo and also connects to over 1,000 cities in 160 countries through its oneworld partner airlines.

“Cargills” is a brand that has been faithfully serving Sri Lankans for 174 years, built on a foundation of values and ethics. True to this heritage and the ethos of ‘Banking on the Human Spirit’, Cargills Bank is taking banking to the masses by being inclusive and accessible. Cargills Bank is a fully-fledged licensed commercial bank with a BB (lka) Fitch Rating. Cargills Bank’s Head Office is in Colpetty, with branches at Maitland Crescent, Maharagama, Old Moor Street, Wattala, Rajagiriya, Kandy, Peradeniya, Nuwara Eliya, Ratnapura, Thanamalwila, Matara, Galle, Kurunegala, Chilaw, Kaduruwela, Vavuniya, Chunnakam and Jaffna.

Cargills Bank Managing Director/CEO, Rajendra Theagarajah(left) exchanging agreement with Chief executive officer of SriLankan Airlines Vipula Gunatilleka.