It’s been a while since we wrote about Internet Payment Gateways in Sri Lanka. Well, four years to be exact. So how have things changed since then? Without further ado, here’s what you need to know.
It’s still a bank’s best-kept secret
It’s 2020. But somehow, it feels like the Sri Lankan banks are at least a decade behind. I mean sure, most of the banks today are pushing hard on their “revolutionary” banking apps or other related mobile solutions. Heck, we’ve written about quite a few of them too. But if you want to know how much an IPG will cost you, sorry you have to call them for that. Because simply laying out the prices on the bank websites for customers is too much to ask.
I wish it was just simple as a phone call away. Most of the time you end up talking to a customer service representative, who will either revert you to the relevant department or give you a direct number to call. They would probably share the general information over the phone. But there are times the banks insist you email them with all your details first. Bit of an unnecessary headache, particularly if you just want to look for options. Not off to a great start, are we?
Nevertheless, we’ve updated the list
Top 10 Payment Gateways You Should Choose For Your
E-Commerce Store In Sri Lanka?
| Payment Gateway | Sampath | Seylan | Commercial | HNB | PayHere | WEBXPAY | 2Checkout | BitPay | Genie | mCash |
| Setup Fee (LKR) | 15,000 | 20,000 | 75,000 | 15,000-25,000 | None | 15,000 | None | none | none | none |
| Recurring fee (LKR/annum) | 75,000 | 30,000 | 90,000 | 60,000-108,000 | 39/transaction (basic) | 35,880 (plus) | 119,880 (premium) | 21,600 – 47,880 | None (pay as you go model) | none | none | none |
| Commission per transaction | 3% – 5% | 4% | 4% | 4% | 3.9%, 2.99% or 2.9% | 2.5% – 3% upwards | 3.5% + $0.35 | 4.5% + $0.45 | 6.0% + $0.60 | 1% | 1.50% | 1% |
| Payment methods accepted | All local and international Master or Visa Credit & Debit Cards | Master, Visa and other cards | all major credit and debit cards. | international debit, credit, Visa and MasterCard | Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover, Diners Club, Genie, Frimi, eZcash, mCash, Sampath Vishwa | Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover, eZcash, mCash, Virtual Wallet, Sampath Vishwa | Almost all credit and debit cards, internet banking | all major credit and debit cards. | Any VISA/ Mastercard -Credit/ Debit Card, Savings/Current Account, Mobile Money | All major cards, internet banking, mobile sms, wallet |
| Fraud & Risk management | Yes | Yes | Advanced | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Average |
| International currencies accepted | USD, LKR, EUR, etc. | multi-currency transactions | multi-currency transactions | LKR, USD, EUR, GBP | LKR, USD, GBP, EUR, AUD | All Major Currencies | Over 200 currencies | 12 Currencies, Cryptocurrency | 12 currencies | LKR, USD, GBP, EUR, AUD, INR |
| Set up type | Online | Online | Online | Online | Online | Online | Online | Online | Online | Online |
| Onboarding & Approvals time | 1-2 week | 4-5 days | 1 week | Less than 1 week | 1 week | 2-4 days | 2 days | 1-2 days | 1 week | 3 days |
| Recurring Billing | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Charges on Refunds | – | – | – | – | No extra charges | 150 per transaction | No extra charges | Minor | Minor | No Extra charges |
| SDK Stacks | PHP4 / PHP5 , ASP / ASP. Net , JSP , JAVA | Java, ASP.net, Php | Javascript, Mobile for Android and IoS | Php | Java, Ruby, .net, C#, Python | Java, PhP, Node.js, C#.net, Ruby, Python, .net | .net C Sharp, Java, Php | C#, Python, Php, Java | ||
| Settlement time | Less than 2 days | 1 day | 2 days | 1day | 2 days | 1 Day | 1 Day | 2 days | Less than 2 days | 2 days |
| Payouts support | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | no | No |
| Split payments | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | only for Cryptocurrency | no | No |
PayHere and WEBXPAY are non-bank payment gateway service providers. Both PayHere and WEBXPAY have partnered with Sampath Bank and HNB respectively as per CBSL regulations.
You might have noticed there’s quite a massive difference in the charges, particularly the recurring fees. If you take a closer look at how the costs will affect you exactly, you’re bound to get some interesting results
Additionally, the banks will also charge a commission of every transaction you make via the IPG. Here, both Seylan Bank and HNB charge 4% of every transaction. Commercial Bank charges 4%, while Sampath Bank charges 3% – 5% depending on the business. PayHere, on the other hand, charges either 3.9%, 2.99% or 2.9% depending on the package you chose.
One other thing to note is that Seylan Bank requires an LKR 300,000 security deposit, refundable after 1 year. The other providers don’t require such deposits.
Overall User Experience
For starters, only 2 IPG providers have provided pricing details on their websites – PayHere and WEBXPAY. PayHere even has a detailed FAQ section on its website. So none of the banks score any points here.
Almost every IPG accepts all cards with the exception of Nations Trust Bank, who only accepts AMEX. Hence, why we’ve left out Nations Trust Bank in case you were wondering.
UX is a discussion topic all on its own. But if you look at the actual payment gateways themselves, the concept of UX still seems to elude the banks. Although, the interfaces for the ones facilitated by PayCorp is tolerable. Again, PayHere and WEBXPAY score the top marks here. PayHere’s UI is even customisable as per the merchant’s branding and colours.
Setup time. Speaking to the banks Sampath Bank stated it would estimate their IPG to be set up within 2 weeks. Seylan Bank says 1 week, Commercial Bank 2 days, HNB within 24 hours. However, do note that this is assuming if all the necessary documentation is in order and approved accordingly in the first place.
Internet Payment Gateways: What’s best?
Going by the cost alone, WEBXPAY seems to be the cheapest option of the payment gateways available. But if you’re specifically looking at banks, then your best bet is Seylan. The only downside on this front is that Seylan Bank usually requires you to put in LKR 300,000 as a security deposit. Although this deposit is refundable after 1 year.
The fastest and cheapest one to start off with would be PayHere as it has no setup fees and the actual setting up process is pretty straightforward. Longterm, PayHere, WEBXPAY and Seylan Bank are all valid choices for their low recurring fees.
Taking everything to account, it’s clear that WEBXPAY, PayHere, and Seylan Bank are the clear front runners. The 1-week setup time and the LKR 300,000 deposit may make the other two options more feasible for you.
Regardless, it’s advisable to do more research prior to making a decision to go ahead for your Internet Payment Gateway requirements. We hope this updated list helps you in making that decision.
Do let us know if we missed anything important. We’ll be updating this article if anything turns up. Until next time.
