Sri Lanka based Orel Corporation, a family-owned multinational company with a presence in over 30 counties, wants to influence the Industry 4.0 upheaval in the country by building a digital ecosystem with OrelPay, a digital payments platform, at its core. Chaminda De Silva, General Manager – Business Development at OrelPay, explains how OrelPay is transforming Sri Lanka’s payments landscape and why users benefit from using the app.

With OrelPay, we are excited that we can shape the future of Industry 4.0 in this country

Why did you develop OrelPay when most banks already have mobile apps?

We are one of the very few non-banking entities with a digital payment platform. We developed OrelPay because we envision ourselves as drivers of the Industry 4.0 revolution in this country. To that end, we had to fulfil a critical infrastructure requirement which is a digital payments platform. We launched OrelPay nearly a year ago, and by the end of 2020, we hope to exceed Rs1 billion in transactions. We have over 20,000 active users, and we hope to add another 50,000 by the end of this year. OrelPay is one of the easiest to use payment apps and the most convenient. The design lends to seamless navigation and delightful user experience. Once downloaded from Android or iOS store, the app is ready to use in less than five minutes. We have got KYC requirements covered and activating the app is hassle-free. Users can link any bank account or credit and debit payment cards like Visa and MasterCard to OrelPay. Users can pay utility bills and donate to registered charities. Soon we will enable third-party fund transfers and payments, which will be a first for fintech in this country outside of the banking system.

Why is OrelPay more advantageous to a user than having a standalone banking app?

We are building and combining trending technology, innovation, and entrepreneurial components to empower the people of this country. Founded in 1920, Orel Corporation is a family-owned multinational in eight business verticals including energy, lighting and digital infrastructure based in Sri Lanka. We have a presence in 34 countries and employ over 5,000 people. Orel Corporation has a reputation for its capabilities in AI, machine learning, and big data analytics among its global clientele for whom we develop tech solutions and build smart factories. Digitalisation is at a nascent stage in Sri Lanka, but we are laying the foundations, and OrelPay is the cog around which we will build a digital ecosystem.

OrelPay is approved by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka but it is much more than a digital payments platform. With OrelPay, we are excited that we can now shape the future of Industry 4.0 in this country.

We are building an entire digital ecosystem around this payment app. We have an unmanned store at the One Galle Face mall that operates without any salespeople. The OrelPay app gives you entry to the store, and purchases are digital by scanning a QR code. We also have a multi-vendor e-commerce platform called OrelBuy activated with the OrelPay app. OrelPay also gives you access to doctors and healthcare specialists through an e-channelling platform called OrelDoc embedded in the app, so you do not need to have a separate app to channel doctors anymore. We recently launched OrelGo, which is a ride-hailing app. Even here, if you have OrelPay, you can pay the fare with the app.

We also have OrelShare charity app which we developed during the first covid-19 wave in March 2020 to allow people to share simple things like meals or essentials with one another. OrelClassroom is a platform that uses robotics in education. All these different tech solutions are connected and enabled by the OrelPay digital payments platform which, as I explained earlier, is a critical component of a digital economy.

I do not believe OrelPay is competing with other digital payments and banking apps. A robust digital payments ecosystem requires many more digital payment platforms that are interoperable. Working in isolation will be counter – productive. I believe the banking system benefits as much from independent players like OrelPay. In fact, we do have strategic partnerships with leading banks in the country.