PhonePe Rolls Out UPI Payments in Sri Lanka 

PhonePe has announced that it has enabled UPI payment acceptance in collaboration with online payment platform LankaPay across LankaQR merchant points. This alliance is facilitated through LankaPay’s partnership with NPCI International Payments Limited (NIPL). 

During the event, PhonePe announced that its app users traveling to Sri Lanka can now make payments using UPI across LankaPayQR merchants nationwide. Users can scan the LankaQR code to make secure and quick payments without carrying cash or calculating currency conversions. Their account will be debited in INR, showing the currency exchange rate. These transactions are facilitated by the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and LankaPay National Payment Network. 

Santosh Jha, High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka, said, “The UPI launch is an important part of a larger goal for both countries to collaborate through a digital partnership.” He added, “India is also supporting Sri Lanka in the development of its Unique Digital Identity Program and other components of the Digital Stack that have immense transformative potential for Sri Lanka and the bilateral economic partnership.” 

Ritesh Pai, CEO, International Payments, PhonePe, said, “This collaboration offers unparalleled convenience to Indian tourists who can now use a familiar and secure payment method while traveling and pay across LankaQR merchant points." 

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PhonePe Group is a leading fintech company. Its flagship product, the PhonePe digital payments app, was launched in August 2016. As per the company, in just 7 years, the company has scaled rapidly to become India’s leading consumer payments app, with 535+ million registered users and a digital payments acceptance network of 39+ million merchants. 

Incorporated in 2002, LankaPay is Sri Lanka’s National Payment Network. With a multitude of digital payment solutions, the entity facilitates domestic interbank payments and settlements under the guidance of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka. In 2020, under the guidance of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, LankaPay launched LankaQR. Currently, there are 19 local banks and finance companies connected to the LankaQR network, with approximately 400,000 merchants across the island.