People’s Bank, the state-owned commercial bank, has disclosed an exchange rate error in one of its remittance systems that caused certain customers to receive excess payments over nearly three years, with the financial impact estimated at approximately Rs. 656 million.
In a statement, the bank said the issue related to the application of exchange rates in one currency within a specific remittance system and affected transactions processed from May 2023 to March 2026.
The error was recently identified and has now been fully rectified, the bank said. Following the discovery, People’s Bank launched an internal review, strengthened operational controls, and began consulting regulatory and supervisory authorities, including the Central Bank of Sri Lanka.
The estimated Rs. 656 million loss has already been fully recognised in the bank’s financial statements, and no further financial impact is expected, according to the disclosure.
People’s Bank said it had begun recovery processes concerning the affected transactions and had already made progress in recovering funds from relevant customers.
The bank sought to reassure account holders that its day-to-day operations, digital services, and deposits remain unaffected, citing an asset base of approximately Rs. 3.8 trillion. People’s Bank reported a record after-tax profit of Rs. 28.8 billion for the first nine months of 2025.
The disclosure adds a new operational-failure thread to the cluster of public-bank governance issues this year, alongside the NDB Rs. 13.2 billion fraud and the Treasury cyber heist that drew Central Bank fraud-prevention scrutiny.
Sources: Newswire
