People’s Bank Triumphs at LankaPay Technnovation Awards 2026

People’s Bank receives the Gold Award

People’s Bank, one of Sri Lanka’s leading Licensed Commercial Banks, has once again reaffirmed its leadership in digital banking innovation by securing the Gold Award for the Most Popular Digital Payment Solution (Large Banks Category) for its People’s Pay mobile payment app at the prestigious LankaPay Technnovation Awards 2026.

Following this achievement, an exclusive interview with People’s Bank’s Acting Chief Information Officer/Head of Project Management Office, M.G.I. Lakmal, explored the strategies and innovations driving the success of People’s Pay and the Bank’s ongoing digital transformation journey.

Q People’s Bank has secured this award for the seventh consecutive year. What are the key features behind the success and widespread adoption of People’s Pay?

People’s Pay has evolved into a flagship digital payments platform in Sri Lanka and has played a decisive role in People’s Bank securing this prestigious recognition for the seventh consecutive year. Its sustained success is driven by a clear strategic focus on financial inclusiveness, superior user experience, and ecosystemled growth.

A defining feature of People’s Pay is its transformation from a transactional utility app into a daily financial habit for customers. Beyond basic fund transfers, the platform supports a wide spectrum of use cases—peertopeer payments, merchant transactions, bill payments, and QRbased purchases—allowing customers to seamlessly integrate digital payments into their everyday lives.

The platform’s integration with LankaQR has significantly expanded its merchant footprint, enabling micro, small, and large merchants alike to participate in the digital economy. This has contributed meaningfully to building a broader digital payments ecosystem while accelerating Sri Lanka’s shift toward a cashless society.

Equally important is People’s Pay’s scenariobased and intuitive user interface, designed around reallife customer journeys rather than isolated transactions. Multilingual support and simplified navigation ensure accessibility across diverse demographic groups, including firsttime digital users and financially underserved segments.

To reinforce trust and reliability, the Bank operates a dedicated 24×7 call center, ensuring continuous customer support. In parallel, extensive islandwide training and awareness programs for branch staff have enabled frontline teams to actively promote digital adoption, cementing People’s Pay as both an inclusive and trusted digital platform.

Q How does the Bank align its digital transformation strategy with national digital and regulatory priorities?

People’s Bank has strategically aligned its digital transformation agenda with Sri Lanka’s national digital vision, ensuring that innovation progresses in tandem with regulatory compliance and public policy objectives. The Bank works in close collaboration with regulators, payment networks, and industry stakeholders to support a stable, secure, and inclusive digital financial infrastructure.

Through deep integration with national platforms such as LankaPay and GOVPAY, the Bank enables seamless digital interactions across government and privatesector services. These integrations are instrumental in creating an interconnected ecosystem in which citizens, businesses, and public institutions can transact efficiently and securely.

The Bank’s digital strategy also emphasizes ecosystem building, where collaboration with fintechs, service providers, and public institutions allows People’s Bank to go beyond traditional banking functions. This approach supports national goals of financial inclusion, digitization of government services, and broader participation in the digital economy.

By prioritizing data security, system resilience, and regulatory adherence, People’s Bank not only aligns itself with national digital priorities but also positions itself as a responsible leader in shaping Sri Lanka’s futureready financial landscape.

Q How is People’s Bank using digital technology to enhance financial inclusion across the country?

Financial inclusion remains a cornerstone of People’s Bank’s digital transformation strategy. The Bank leverages digital technology to remove geographical, economic, and operational barriers—particularly for underserved rural and semiurban communities.

Through mobile banking, digital wallets, palmtop banking solutions, and selfservice platforms, the Bank has significantly reduced dependence on physical branch access. These initiatives allow customers to engage with formal banking services regardless of location, mobility, or time constraints.

A critical enabler of inclusion has been the Bank’s focus on simplified, scenariobased user interfaces, designed around common daily needs such as receiving salaries, paying utility bills, supporting families, or running small businesses. This contextual approach ensures that even customers with limited digital literacy can engage confidently with banking services.

By offering multilanguage support and promoting digital literacy through branch and community outreach programs, People’s Bank is successfully converting digital banking from an occasional service into a trusted daily financial companion. Through these inclusive initiatives, the Bank continues to bridge the urbanrural divide while empowering individuals and communities across the country.

QWhat measures are in place to ensure the security and reliability of the Bank’s digital platforms?

People’s Bank places paramount importance on safeguarding the security, reliability, and integrity of its digital platforms, recognizing that trust is fundamental to driving widespread digital adoption.

The Bank has implemented a comprehensive, multilayered security architecture encompassing advanced encryption standards, strong authentication mechanisms, and rolebased access controls across all digital channels. Realtime transaction monitoring systems continuously analyze activity patterns to detect, prevent, and respond to potential threats without compromising customer experience.

In addition to technical safeguards, People’s Bank actively promotes customer awareness and cyberhygiene education, reinforcing security as a shared responsibility. These measures collectively ensure a resilient and reliable digital banking environment capable of supporting largescale ecosystem participation with confidence.

Q What are the Bank’s key digital priorities moving forward, and how do you see the future of digital banking in Sri Lanka?

Looking ahead, People’s Bank is focused on becoming a fully digital, datadriven, and ecosystemcentric financial institution, delivering hyperpersonalized and frictionless experiences across all customer touchpoints. A key priority is the seamless unification of mobile, online, and branch channels into a single intelligent omnichannel platform.

The Bank plans to further leverage advanced analytics, artificial intelligence, and machine learning to offer predictive, contextaware financial solutions tailored to individual customer life stages and business needs. Expanding platform banking and BankingasaService capabilities will enable deeper collaboration with fintechs, merchants, and service providers, embedding financial services directly into customer lifestyles and business workflows.

Cybersecurity enhancement, cloudenabled scalability, and ongoing investments in digital literacy and inclusion remain central to sustaining this growth. Beyond traditional banking, People’s Bank aims to evolve into a trusted financial partner that supports customers in payments, savings, credit, wealth creation, and longterm financial wellbeing.

As Sri Lanka advances toward a digitally driven economy, the future of banking will be characterized by embedded finance, realtime connectivity, automation, and ecosystem orchestration. In this evolving landscape, People’s Bank is well positioned to lead—transforming digital banking from a functional necessity into an integral part of daily life, while ensuring inclusivity, security, and sustainable value creation.