From left: CBSL Payments and Settlements Department Director Dharmasri Kumaratunge, CBSL Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal, Youth and Sports Minister Namal Rajapaksa, LOLC Finance PLC Director/CEO Conrad Dias and PickMe CEO Zulfer Jiffry

The LANKAQR Nationwide Rollout Campaign was launched recently at the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL), with the aim of promoting LANKAQR payments amongst the small and medium merchants as well as consumers throughout the nation. During this national event, iPay ceremonially launched the fare enablement feature for QR payment acceptance for rides and deliveries carried out through PickMe. 

iPay partnered with the country’s first and leading ride-hailing app PickMe to offer the best of convenience to its customers throughout the nation. Through this partnership of national importance, iPay has enabled LankaQR payments via CASA (current accounts, savings accounts) to PickMe users. Payments can be made via iPay or any LankaQR-enabled app. 
The event was held under the patronage of Youth and Sports, Development Coordination and Monitoring Minister and Digital Technology and Entrepreneur Development State Minister Namal Rajapaksa participating as the chief guest. The event was held on the invitation of CBSL Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal. 

During the event, the CBSL facilitated the on-boarding of several government and retail institutions by LANKAQR-certified banks, so that these institutions may now accept LANKAQR payments from customers. With this nationwide roll-out campaign, the CBSL is confident that the public will utilise LANKAQR for their daily transactions, at a greater frequency.

Commenting on the LANKAQR Nationwide Rollout Campaign, LOLC Finance PLC Director/CEO Conrad Dias said, “In the current context of the global pandemic, it is imperative to reduce the usage of cash than ever before and move towards digital payment methods – hence, this initiative is extremely timely. As a leading and responsible payment aggregator in Sri Lanka, iPay is dedicated to support this transformation on a national scale and the partnership with PickMe is a testament to that promise. Backed by LOLC, Sri Lanka’s most valuable and globally diversified financial conglomerate, we will continue our efforts to propel this national cause.”