SLT-Mobitel’s mCash partners with Visa to enable Visa acceptance on LankaQR

Monday, 5 April 2021 00:05 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Mobitel Chief Marketing Officer Shashika Senarath

Visa Country Manager – Sri Lanka and Maldives Anthony Watson

mCash, the mobile money arm of SLT-Mobitel has partnered with Visa to enable mCash merchants to

process Visa payments via LankaQR. This joint endeavour will empower mCash merchants across Sri Lanka to conveniently use the Visa solution to receive QR payments from customers.

Visa’s QR payment solution, is a mobile push-payment platform that allows customers to send merchants payments directly from their Visa prepaid, debit or credit card accounts by scanning a QR code with their mobile and following the applicable Visa process for QR payments.

With mCash’s latest addition of LankaQR via partnering bank Commercial Bank enables existing mCash merchants; from small businesses to large-scale enterprises, to conveniently accept payments from any customer who uses an app that is LankaQR certified, including the Visa QR solution. LankaQR codes issued by mCash merchants can accept payments sent through the Visa network using cards issued locally and internationally, placing it amongst one of the most fully-fledged LankaQR codes to be issued to the market. Commenting on the partnership, Mobitel Chief Marketing Officer Shashika Senarath said, “As Sri Lanka continues to evolve digitally, we are proud to partner with Visa and roll out QR code solutions for our consumers ensuring convenience, security and reliability. With this partnership, we are able to deliver new payment innovations for our merchant base through mCash and LankaQR’s interoperable standards thus empowering our customers to pay and get paid seamlessly and further uplift Sri Lanka’s digital payment landscape.” LankaQR was first launched through an initiative by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL). This was to ensure that all QR codes and QR-based transactions in Sri Lanka occur in a regulated and inter-operative manner. LankaQR’s island-wide activation is further in support of the Central Bank’s ‘Cash Wade’ campaign which aims to increase the adoption of digital transactions in Sri Lanka and to highlight issues related to using cash and encouraging consumers to enjoy the convenience of payments through digital platforms.

Visa Country Manager – Sri Lanka and Maldives Anthony Watson said: “The increased adoption of less-touch payments, be it contactless cards or QR codes, signals the shift of consumers and merchants alike, towards more forms of digital payments. We’re delighted to enable QR payments on Visa for merchants of SLT-Mobitel, so they can accept payments from Visa cardholders easily and safely. With this, we aim to expand digital payment infrastructure, usage and acceptance across small merchants in Sri Lanka.”