Sri Lanka’s Next Leap in Digital Payments: Reaching Rural Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka processed more than Rs17 trillion in real-time digital transactions last year, accounting for over half of the country’s GDP. The scale of progress is undeniable, but so is the imbalance. Most of these payments flow through corporate and urban channels, while much of the population in rural areas remains outside the digital net. Expanding digital payments is important because it reduces costs, enhances security, and provides citizens and small businesses with faster and more reliable access to financial services. The challenge now is turning growth into reach by embedding digital payments in everyday life across the island. That question shaped much of the dialogue at the Sri Lanka FinTech Summit 2025, a forum that brought together policymakers, bankers, and technology leaders to explore how innovation can drive financial inclusion.

Channa de Silva

Chief Executive of LankaPay

The Uneven Geography of Digital Payments

When we talk about the digital economy, we often compare Sri Lanka to larger countries without considering context. In absolute terms we look small, but when we compare our transactions proportionally against GDP and population, it shows progress. Last year, Sri Lanka processed Rs17 trillion in real-time payments and Rs35 trillion in total digital transactions, which is already more than our GDP. This year, we expect that number to exceed Rs50 trillion. But most of these transactions come from corporations in the Western Province. With Sri Lanka’s population being 20% urban and 80% rural, the question now is how to bridge that gap?

Damith Pallewatte

Chief Executive of HNB

How Fintech Extends Financial Inclusion

Over the past few years, the banking sector has built an advanced payment infrastructure, investing heavily in systems that enable digital transactions. But without digital literacy, none of the progress we talk about will take off. That’s why we run programmes in rural areas to build confidence in digital payments. In the past 6-9 months, we’ve also seen how affordability changes behaviour. With small-value transactions now processed at almost zero MDR (Merchant Discount Rate), more small merchants are joining the formal system and relying less on cash.

Eranga Weeraratne

Sri Lanka’s Deputy Minister for the Digital Economy

The Policy Blueprint for Digital Payments

When the current administration came into office, Sri Lanka’s digital economy was worth about $4 billion, around 3-4% of GDP. We want it to grow to $15 billion by 2030, with digital payments contributing around $3 4 billion towards it. That’s why the Central Bank and the banks have agreed to make QR transactions cost-free. Our goal is for the government to act as a catalyst for digital payments. We’re not competing with cards; we’re competing with cash.

Nandalal Weerasinghe

Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka

Building Trust in a Digital Economy

Our main task as the Central Bank is to identify risks in digital finance and provide regulatory guidance to mitigate them. Without that, there’s no trust in digital payments. To strengthen confidence, we’ve introduced three key standards. In 2020, we issued guidelines on compliance for payment-related mobile applications. In 2021, we launched a framework for technology risk management across licensed banks. And in 2025, we introduced mandatory reporting of IT and cybersecurity incidents. Our goal is simple: maintain a safe, transparent, and efficient digital financial system that people trust enough to use.