Sri Lanka’s banking sector is in the middle of a difficult transition, as digital adoption grows and customer expectations shift, all while still dealing with legacy systems and a heavy reliance on cash. Seylan Bank is addressing these challenges through a partnership-led, API-driven, and customer-centric approach to digital transformation.
Harsha Wanigatunga, Chief Information Officer, Chaminda Senewiratne, Head of Digital Banking, and Ruchith Liyanage, Head of Cards at Seylan Bank, explain how Seylan is navigating this transformation and shaping the future of banking in Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka’s digital banking landscape has evolved rapidly over the last few years. Where does Seylan Bank position itself in that journey, and what does being a digital-first bank mean in practice?
Chaminda Senewiratne: At Seylan Bank, digital is not a separate pillar but an enabler within our overall strategy. Our focus is on addressing real customer needs rather than innovating for its own sake. As lifestyles evolve, we aim to empower customers to manage their finances seamlessly.
Being digital-first is a response to changing expectations. Customers require convenience, speed, and flexibility in daily transactions. We design solutions by understanding behaviour, identifying pain points, and simplifying financial interactions, with emphasis on maintaining security and integrity of those transactions.
This aligns with national efforts to digitise the economy by reducing reliance on cash and improving financial inclusion, particularly among underserved communities, enabling customers to operate confidently within a digital ecosystem.
Seylan Bank has been serving customers since 1988. That’s nearly four decades of legacy systems and staff accustomed to working around them. How do you decide what technology to modernize, what to retire, and what to rebuild entirely?
Harsha Wanigatunga: Our long-standing presence has allowed us to build strong controls and processes, supported by early investments in robust core banking systems. These foundations continue to support us today.
We modernise based on need. Many of our systems are globally developed and regularly updated, allowing us to evolve without replacement. We made a decision back in 2018 that all integrations will be based on RESTful Web Services APIs. We were fortunate that most of our legacy systems had APIs. Thus, we were able to position these APIs as Web Service APIs, without re-architecting the backend. For applications that didn’t have APIs, we created them. This enabled us to provide almost all the banking services via APIs. This enabled faster application and services integration within the IT ecosystem at Seylan Bank. Further, these APIs are of great value to Fintechs, SMEs and large corporates to enable their applications to facilitate banking services.
Further, the API stack has enabled us to layer digital capabilities over existing infrastructure, enabling banking services for digital payments while maintaining stability. In parallel, we enforce a layered IT security approach combining network, application, and data-level controls to ensure that modernisation does not introduce undue risk. These capabilities also support collaboration with Fintechs and SMEs, helping us expand our service ecosystem securely. Seylan is one of the few banks in Sri Lanka that has a comprehensive Data Warehouse (DWH) enabling AI-based analytics, and all applications that require data to be provisioned from the DWH.
Furthermore, the bank has automated all the critical operations via an enterprise workflow, ushering in superior customer service and reduced TAT. The Seylan ATM/CRM network is one of the most advanced in the industry, offering user-friendly interfaces with rich features.
Ultimately, our approach is about maintaining the right balance between innovation, security, and reliably modernising where necessary, retaining what is proven, and ensuring the overall strength and resilience of our technology landscape.
“Our long-standing presence has allowed us to build strong controls and processes, supported by early investments in robust core banking systems. These foundations continue to support us today”
Harsha Wanigatunga – Chief Information Officer, at Seylan Bank
The card business has had to reinvent itself as digital wallets and alternative payment methods gain ground. How has Seylan’s card strategy evolved, and what role do cards now play in the broader customer relationship?
Ruchith Liyanage: The card business has always been defined by continuous evolution. From the early days of manual authorisations to the introduction of Electronic Data Capture (EDC) machines and the rise of card-not-present transactions, each phase has reshaped how cards function within the payments ecosystem.
Today, cards operate in the background as a critical funding source for digital payments. Rather than competing with digital wallets or fintechs, our approach is to partner with them, with cards acting as the financial backbone, enabling these transactions.
Our focus also remains on security and loyalty, ensuring cards continue to be a trusted and relevant payment method within an increasingly digital ecosystem.
Today, cards operate in the background as a critical funding source for digital payments. Rather than competing with digital wallets or fintechs, our approach is to partner with them, with cards acting as the financial backbone, enabling these transactions.
Our focus also remains on security and loyalty, ensuring cards continue to be a trusted and relevant payment method within an increasingly digital ecosystem.
Digital inclusion remains a real challenge, particularly beyond the Western Province. How is Seylan’s digital strategy designed to reach and serve customers who are just entering the formal banking system?
Chaminda: Our approach to digital inclusion spans three segments: retail, SMEs, and corporates, with retail being the most challenging, especially when reaching customers entering the formal banking system.
We focus on enabling existing ecosystems within these communities by working with partners who already engage small businesses and informal networks. By equipping them with the right tools, even small vendors can accept payments through simple QR-based solutions.
For SMEs, we offer white-label platforms that remove the need for technical investment, allowing them to adopt digital payments and focus on growth.
Corporations are supported through tailored API integrations aligned to their operational needs.
Overall, our strategy is partnership-led and designed to extend financial access without relying on physical presence.
As cybersecurity threats grow more sophisticated, banks remain prime targets. How does Seylan approach security in terms of the technology deployed, and with respect to staff and customers?
Harsha: Security is embedded into every system and application we develop. We follow global best practices and align with regulatory requirements to ensure consistent protection for customers, staff, and systems. Our digital assets operate within a multi-layered security environment, supported by enhanced observability that provides real-time visibility into system activities and potential threats.
Threats continue to evolve, often ahead of defenses. Our approach is to remain proactive by strengthening systems and adopting updated technologies. We also conduct independent audits through multiple parties to identify vulnerabilities.
This layered approach improves resilience. While no organisation is completely immune, our focus is on ensuring we are not an easy target. Security and compliance remain critical priorities.
Fraud and card security are always a concern, but so is avoiding friction that pushes customers away. How does Seylan strike that balance, and how is the Bank addressing real-time risk?
Ruchith: We focus on balancing security with customer convenience. Currently, we use rule-based behavioural monitoring to analyse transaction patterns and determine when authentication is required. However, traditional methods such as one-time passwords are no longer foolproof due to social engineering risks. Customer awareness remains important.
We are moving towards AI-driven behavioural analysis, which offers greater flexibility and accuracy. This will enhance real-time risk detection while maintaining a seamless experience.
“Rather than competing with digital wallets or fintechs, our approach is to partner with them, with cards acting as the financial backbone, enabling these transactions.”
Ruchith Liyanage – Head of Cards, at Seylan Bank
What is Seylan’s philosophy regarding fintech partnerships versus in-house innovation?
Chaminda: We do not view fintechs as a threat. Our strategy is centred on partnerships, recognising the limits of what any institution can achieve beyond its core business. By focusing on our strengths and enabling partners, we are able to reach a much wider customer base.
Seylan currently supports close to 95% of the fintech ecosystem from a financial transactions perspective. This reflects our commitment to empowering partners rather than competing with them. We work with fintechs through APIs and consultation, ensuring their solutions meet security and compliance requirements.
We also support innovation through incubation and sandbox environments, helping emerging players develop their ideas. Ultimately, our approach is to enable ecosystems by combining our expertise with the agility of fintech partners to deliver more inclusive solutions.
Looking at merchant acceptance and ecosystem side of payments, what does Seylan see as its role in shaping how Sri Lankans transact, both as a card issuer and as a broader participant in the payments economy?
Ruchith: In Sri Lanka, around 77% of transactions are still cash-based, so the real competition is with cash rather than fintechs or other banks. Our focus is on enabling merchants to accept digital payments through accessible alternatives.
We leverage our network of over 170 branches to expand the payment acceptance business across the country. Recognising that no two merchants are the same, we offer tailored solutions for small, established, and e-commerce businesses.
At the same time, building trust in digital payments is critical. This requires collaboration across institutions and regulators to ensure secure and reliable ecosystems, with our role focused on driving adoption through reach and flexibility.
“Threats continue to evolve, often ahead of defenses. Our approach is to remain proactive by strengthening systems and adopting updated technologies. We also conduct independent audits through multiple parties to identify vulnerabilities. This layered approach improves resilience.”
Harsha Wanigatunga – Chief Information Officer, at Seylan Bank
AI and automation are moving from experimentation to implementation across the industry. Where is Seylan on that curve, and how do you ensure that technology adoption enhances the human side of banking?
Harsha: We have been steadily advancing in this space by continuously re-engineering processes to improve efficiency and service delivery. Automation decisions are based on clear business value, focusing on return on investment, reduced turnaround times, and the ability to redeploy staff into higher-value, more customer-centric roles. We use modern workflow platforms with built-in AI capabilities to streamline operations and enhance decision-making. However, AI is viewed as an enabler rather than a replacement for human expertise. Human validation and oversight remain essential to ensure accuracy, manage risk, and preserve the personal touch in customer interactions.
Importantly, AI is deployed to deliver efficient decision-making and facilitate automation to reduce manual and repetitive tasks and enable our teams to focus more on meaningful customer engagement and delivering personalised banking experiences, ensuring technology enhances, rather than replaces, the human side of banking.
“Our approach to digital inclusion spans three segments: retail, SMEs, and corporates, with retail being the most challenging, especially when reaching customers entering the formal banking system.”
Chaminda Senewiratne – Head of Digital Banking, at Seylan Bank
What does the future of banking look like? And more importantly, what is Seylan’s role in it?
Ruchith: The future of banking will depend on how effectively AI is operationalised. While many organisations speak about AI, its real value lies in practical application across business functions, not just marketing. This requires collaboration across IT, operations, and business units, supported by the right talent. With dedicated leadership in this space, Seylan is moving in the right direction, with customers ultimately benefiting through better service, value, and efficiency.
Chaminda: Sustainability will be equally critical. While new technologies evolve rapidly, the focus must be on adopting solutions that are relevant, stable, and scalable. Seylan’s strength lies in its measured approach, building strong foundations and supporting broader ecosystems. Going forward, the Bank will continue to play a consultative role, aligning solutions with shifting customer and market needs.
Harsha: Innovation at Seylan has been progressive and futuristic, often leading in areas such as API integration, IT infrastructure, security and data capabilities. The focus has always been on delivering meaningful outcomes by combining efficiency, security, and customer convenience while ensuring long-term value.
Looking ahead, the future of banking is increasingly digital, AI and data-driven, with strict compliance, and I am pleased to state that Seylan is leading in this front.