Australia’s biggest personal budgeting firm MyBudget selects Sri Lanka as technology innovation dest

MyBudget Ltd., Australia’s largest and most trusted firm for providing personal budget management services has announced that it will be officially entering Sri Lanka and expanding its operations in November 2018. The company will set up an offshore development centre subsequently, where a team of Sri Lankan software professionals will contribute to MyBudget’s expanded platform from the Colombo based technology development centre.

Recognised as Australia’s leader in personal budgeting services, MyBudget was founded by Tammy Barton in 1999 at her residence in Adelaide. Tammy has grown her firm into a national company today with over 250 employees and 15 offices across Australia, covering major business cities including Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Brisbane and Gold Coast. MyBudget manages more than AUD 1 billion and processes more than 5 million transactions every year, on behalf of over 50,000 customers.

The initial considerations to enter Sri Lanka came into light in 2017 May, when Tammy met IronOne Technologies and BoardPAC Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer Lakmini Wijesundera, in Mumbai when attending the prestigious Ernst and Young (EY) Entrepreneurial Winning Women (EWW) Asia-Pacific program 2017 as top woman entrepreneurs from their respective countries.

Expressing her views on MyBudget’s latest venture, Tammy Barton Founder and Director of MyBudget stated, “After speaking with Lakmini in India, I was able to learn a lot about Sri Lanka’s ICT industry and the skill levels of local software engineers. That fascinated me greatly to come here and set up a development centre in Colombo – an extended wing of MyBudget. We have been able to find a company who will support us to start our operations and we are looking forward to expanding the staff and our services exponentially in the next three to five years.”

Anoji de Silva Partner of EY added, “EY started the EWW program in 2007, with Asia Pacific region joining this global program in 2015. Sri Lanka joined the program in 2017 with Lakmini Wijesundera as the first EWW from Sri Lanka. EY EWW is a year-long executive leadership program that identifies a select group of high-potential women entrepreneurs with established businesses who are ready to scale operations and grow to become global market leaders and help them achieve their goals. The past winners form a close knit group of EWW Alumni and are connected by EY through the EWW Alumni network and various other programs to which they are invited.”

The MyBudget senior management team visited Sri Lanka to plan the software development centre. The Sri Lanka Association of Software and Service Companies (SLASSCOM) facilitated to identify a local software services company to assist MyBudget’s software technology roadmap in Sri Lanka.

“Since 1999, MyBudget has been a committed force in Australia in assisting people to live the desired life they seek by freeing them from many uncertainties related to their financials. We have helped more than 65,000 customers to get on the path of financial success. With this set up in Sri Lanka, we have kick started our journey in taking and popularising MyBudget in global markets. I am so excited about this opportunity to grow MyBudget’s journey away from my home country in Sri Lanka,” Tammy Barton alluded further. 

As part of this venture, Tammy has agreed to become a vocal champion for Sri Lankan software developments and product innovations to her colleagues in Australia to bring more export opportunities towards the country, by providing positive publicity of her success story in Sri Lanka to leading companies in Australia.   

Tammy Barton is an award-winning women entrepreneur in Australia and she was recently honoured with the esteemed ‘South Australian Business Woman of the Year in 2017’ award. Last year, she was named as the Telstra Business Woman of the Year and was included in SmartCompany’s Top 30 Female Entrepreneurs in 2017 list. MyBudget was featured in Business Review Weekly (BRW), a leading business magazine in Australia, for four years running as part of their BRW Fast 100 List. The BRW Fast 100 comprises the fastest growing companies in terms of turnover in Australia. Barton is an advisory board member of Bank South Australia since 2012 and a board member of Project Gen Z since February 2017. She regularly contributes as a speaker at events and conferences, including the Committee for Economic Development Australia’s Leadership Series, the Entrepreneur’s Un-convention, the Secrets to Success Convention among others.