DIGITAL SECTOR
Compiled by Prashanthi Cooray
EMBRACING A CASHLESS FUTURE
Chirath Samarasekara shares insights into the evolving payment landscape
Q: What marketing strategies do you adopt to promote new card products in an increasingly digital world?
A: Promoting new card products call for innovative strategies. Targeted social media campaigns highlighting unique card features combined with digital onboarding are essential to attract increasingly tech savvy customers.
Visually appealing and informative content drives engagement and demonstrates how payment cards can simplify everyday transactions.
Effective marketing strategies focus on seamless payment capabilities, valuable rewards and convenience, while meeting customers’ needs for efficiency and security. Furthermore, collaborations with partners such as supermarkets, e-commerce platforms and restaurants create value, by offering exclusive discounts and payment plans.
For corporate clients, the focus is on providing tailored card solutions that streamline expense management with features such as real-time tracking, customisable controls and scalable systems.
Email and SMS marketing remain effective for personalised promotions, while data analytics help ensure that campaigns reach the right audience at the right time.
Q: How do you tailor marketing and promotional campaigns to attract different customer segments?
A: Tailoring marketing campaigns effectively requires understanding the needs of each segment, and leveraging available data and insights, to design campaigns that cater to different demographics and preferences.
For younger audiences, convenience and digital integrations should be prioritised. Meanwhile, campaigns targeting professionals and high net worth individuals should highlight exclusive rewards, personalised services, financial benefits and prestige.
For families, rural and older demographics, promotions must focus on simplicity, acceptance across traditional merchants and benefits like utility bill payments, grocery discounts and fraud protection.
Card issuers often run seasonal promotions to broaden their customer base but it is also vital to conduct campaigns targeting new markets to enhance inclusivity and adoption. Tailored offerings that resonate with individual needs are also key to driving loyalty and card usage.
A successful strategy hinges on understanding the audience and crafting tailored messages that highlight how payment cards can meet their needs, leading to increased usage and loyalty.
Q: What challenges do you face when marketing cards?
A: Market saturation is a major hurdle with numerous players competing for attention in a relatively small market.
To stand out, issuers offer unique value propositions to expand the adoption of digital payments across the island. Consequently, the need for digital identity and electronic signatures has grown significantly in Sri Lanka. Cash based transactions are still preferred, especially in rural areas. This is handled through a strategic localised approach that addresses the specific needs, barriers and concerns of the community.
Building trust in digital payments is another challenge; it is tackled through education campaigns on security measures and fraud alerts. Partnerships with government and trusted merchants further boost credibility.
With clear messaging, and the establishment of trust and adaptability, businesses can thrive in the competitive digital payments space.
Q: How do you measure success in marketing card products – what key performance indicators (KPIs) are important?
A: Most players measure marketing success through a mix of digital and transactional KPIs. Key metrics include new card applications, activation and attrition rates, and transaction volumes – particularly for domestic and cross border payments.
Localised metrics such as spending at partner merchants, e-commerce transactions and user engagement with promotional offers are also tracked.
On digital marketing platforms, KPIs including social media reach, and click-through and conversion rates, provide insights into campaign effectiveness. Customer satisfaction scores and feedback gathered through surveys and call centres also play a crucial role in evaluating and refining strategies.
Q: Given the growing emphasis on security and fraud prevention, how do you communicate safety features of digital payment cards to potential customers?
A: In Sri Lanka, communicating security features is critical to building trust.
We highlight safety measures such as two factor authentication, real-time alerts and fraud monitoring in campaigns across digital and traditional channels. We also ensure that educational content is tailored to the local audience by using simple, relatable language and culturally relevant examples.
By collaborating with local influencers and conducting financial literacy initiatives we ensure that the message reaches a broader audience, including those who are new to digital payments.
Q: How do you see the sector evolving in the next three to five years? And what role will card based payments play?
A: Contactless payments will become more common, driven by wearables and smartphones offering seamless experiences.
Biometric authentication such as fingerprint or facial recognition will replace PINs and enhance security. Blockchain and cryptocurrency integration may reduce fees, and accelerate cross border transactions.
Physical cards will remain essential, coexisting with mobile wallets, QR codes, near field communication technology and embedded payments in connected devices.
In Sri Lanka, the sector is poised for growth, fuelled by the government’s cashless initiatives and smartphone adoption. Card based payments will integrate with digital wallets and mobile apps with virtual cards gaining traction for online use.
Loyalty and cashback programmes and discounts will drive usage, while cards will act as a bridge for customers transitioning to fully digital systems, playing a pivotal role in building familiarity and trust.
