Only three transactions per LankaQR merchant code in 2023

At a media briefing  held at the Presidential Media Center(PMC) after the virtual launch of the Unified Payment Interface (UPI) today (12),  it was revealed that only three (03) transactions per active LankaQR merchant code had taken place in 2023.

Director Payments and Settlements, Central Bank of Sri Lanka Wasantha  Alwis, said that LankaQR was introduced in March 2019 and at present there were 380,000 LankaQR merchants but only 1.1 million transactions totaling 3.3 billion rupees had taken place in 2023. The number of LankaQR transactions in 2022 was 599,000 and the amount transacted was 1.9bilion rupees.

With the introduction of Unified Payment Interface (UPI)  transactions through LankaQR the over 300,000 Indian tourists visiting Sri Lanka annually could make digital payments for goods and services whilst in Sri Lanka. There is no minimum limit for a transaction but the upper limit per transaction is Two hundred thousand Sri Lanka Rupees (LKR 200,000).

Unified Payments Interface, commonly referred as UPI, is an Indian payment system developed by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). The interface facilitates inter-bank person to person (P2P) and person-to-merchant (P2M) transactions. It is used on mobile devices to instantly transfer funds between two bank accounts. There are approximately 260 million UPI users in India and with the introduction UPI payments in Sri Lanka it is expected that there will be an increase in transaction conducted through LankaQR and more Sri Lankans will use LankaQR for their day to day transactions.

Wasantha Alwis (Director Payments and Settlements, Central Bank of Sri Lanka ), Dr Kenneth de Zilwa (Chairman, LankaPay (Pvt) Limited),  Conrad Dias (Chairman LOLC Finance PLC and Ipay), Channa de Silva (CEO LankaPay (Pvt) Limited) and Randhil Botheju (Senior Vice President Nations Trust Bank and Deputy Chairman LankaQR steering Committee) attended the media briefing.