Central Bank takes ‘Rata Purama LANKAQR’ campaign to Galle

Invitees and the gathering at the event

• Promotes cashless transactions across the country

SDB bank CEO and CBSL Working Group of Financial Institutions Chairman Thilak Piyadigama

The third phase of CBSL›s ‘Rata Purama LANKAQR’ campaign unfolded in Galle on 21 February with the support of the island›s leading financial institutions and telcos. 

The ‹Rata Purama LANKAQR› initiative is an island-wide campaign commenced late last year to

introduce LANKAQR as the standard for mobile phone and digital payments countrywide, in moving towards a cashless and digitally-savvy society plus greater financial inclusion across Sri Lanka. 

Held at Court Square Galle Fort, the event was attended by Chief Guest Member of Parliament Chandima Weerakkody, top Central Bank officials, and representatives of participating financial institutions and telcos. 

The ‘Rata Purama LANKAQR’ initiative continues to be actively driven under the leadership of SDB bank CEO Thilak Piyadigama, who was appointed as the Chairman of the Working Group of Financial Institutions by CBSL to lead the implementation of the LANKAQR project islandwide.

The Galle leg of the LANKAQR national campaign, drawing on the participation of numerous high-profile guests plus the island’s top banks and financial institutions, aimed to advance the program’s overall vision of promoting digital transactions as the new norm and included city-wide promotions, covering major commercial locations in and around the city. 

Developed by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, LANKAQR is a common Quick Response (QR) code standard, and its adoption by most major financial institutions in Sri Lanka is a progressive step on the path to Sri Lankans fully embracing a future that is inevitably digital, gradually leading to an entirely cashless mode of transaction. 

The LANKAQR system will allow banks, financial institutions and telcos, through their digital payment apps and platforms, to facilitate fast, secure and low cost digital payments to any merchant or service provider. 

LANKAQR provides customers with a mechanism for payment for all their needs ranging from groceries, healthcare to utilities, and even the purchase of goods from street-side vendors, directly from their bank account through the use of any LANKAQR-compliant mobile payment app.

 SDB bank team at the LANKAQR Galle event