HNB with WEBXPAY provides cutting-edge direct payment solutions to MSMEs

From left: HNB Product Head Merchant Services and Digital Pay Products Gayan Gunawardane, HNB Head of Acquiring and Digital Payment Solutions Zacky Ahamed, HNB Head of Cards Gauthami Niranjan, WEBXPAY Founder and CEO Omar Sahib, Visa Country Manager Sri Lanka and the Maldives Avanthi Colombage, Visa Director Products Sri Lanka and the Maldives Gimali Soysa, Visa Director Merchant Sales and Acquiring Sri Lanka and the Maldives Nalin Dissanayake, WEBXPAY Director Business Development and Operations Krishan Samarasinghe and Product Lead Visa Business Solutions South Asia Nishant Kumar

Empowering MSMEs and driving digital transformation at the grassroots, Sri Lanka’s most digitally-savvy bank HNB PLC partnered with the nation’s leading online payment gateway solutions provider WEBXPAY to offer over 3,000 businesses with a comprehensive portfolio of payment solutions under one platform.

The first fintech in Sri Lanka to be certified as a Business Payments Solutions Provider (BPSP) by Visa, WEBXPAY aims to provide support to entrepreneurs across the island in revitalising their businesses following a time of economic distress. The BPSP solution allows businesses to pay even non-card-accepting vendors and suppliers to accept card payments. Moreover, the partnership will allow merchants to manage all their B2B transactions to vendors and suppliers within a single platform, consolidating and optimising their processes.

“Enabling direct B2B settlements represents a true paradigm shift for MSMEs, providing them with more room to manage their payment cycles and negotiate for better rates by providing upfront settlement on essential inputs. HNB is proud to sign with WEBXPAY as our first fintech partner to support our shared mission of rejuvenating and empowering Sri Lanka’s MSMEs leveraging these new technological capabilities,” HNB Head of Cards Gauthami Niranjan stated.

Through the partnership, merchants with corporate credit cards can now use it through an Internet Payment Gateway (IPG) to register payments to their suppliers on WEBXPAY’s BPSP platform. Each payment done by a Visa commercial card will thereafter be directed directly to the supplier’s bank account, even if they lack IPG or card payment acceptance capabilities. According to WEBXPAY Founder and CEO Omar Sahib, these powerful new capabilities will provide invaluable and timely support to MSMEs at a time when many have been struggling to restock their inventories and capitalise on improved economic activity at the grassroots.

“In the wake of our nation’s economic challenges, timely settlement of payments to suppliers has been one of the most common challenges faced by MSMEs. Even when they have a strong business, the logistics of using cash or cheques for payments has become far too complex and cumbersome,” Sahib explained.

Visa Country Manager for Sri Lanka and Maldives Avanthi Colombage said, “Making and accepting digital payments is imperative for growth, especially when small businesses start accepting card payments with ease. Partnering with WEBXPAY, we are delighted to bring Visa’s BPSP platform to businesses in Sri Lanka, so they can make speedy, safe digital payments to their vast chain of suppliers, even if the latter hitherto does not accept card-based payments. Not only will businesses be able to make payments digitally but can avail better credit facilities and have full visibility to supplier payments.”

Additionally, entrepreneurs will have access to up to 52 days of credit for all their business-related purchases when they use their corporate card. Notably, WEBXPAY also announced that Thunder and Neon Group were the first sub merchants to be onboarded and successfully complete the first transaction.