The Commercial Bank of Ceylon recently reaffirmed its position as a trailblazer in digital payments and one of the main drivers of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka’s (CBSL) island-wide initiative to promote QR payments, when it actively championed QR-based financial transactions at the CBSL ‘Pay Digital Dambulla’ Promotional Campaign.
Held at the Dambulla Dedicated Economic Centre – one of Sri Lanka’s busiest wholesale and retail hubs – the campaign was a significant milestone in advancing cashless payment adoption in rural and semi-urban regions. Recognising the importance of Dambulla as a high-volume trading location attracting merchants and customers from across the island, Commercial Bank undertook a series of intensive pre-event merchant engagement activities in the area. These included targeted awareness programmes, on-site training sessions, and direct merchant onboarding drives that successfully prepared a large number of vendors – from small-scale fruit and vegetable sellers to large wholesale distributors – to accept QR payments from both local and international customers.
As a result of this groundwork, many Dambulla merchants were equipped to seamlessly accept payments via LANKAQR, Visa QR, MasterCard QR, UnionPay QR, WeChat Pay QR, Alipay QR, and India’s UPI QR, giving them one of the most comprehensive QR acceptance capabilities in the country. To further encourage adoption, Commercial Bank introduced exclusive offers during the campaign, including customer discounts of up to 25% and merchant reward programmes designed to incentivise repeat transactions and build confidence in digital payment systems. These measures directly supported CBSL’s vision of extending QR payment usage into key economic zones outside major cities, the Bank said.
The event was graced by the Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka as the Chief Guest, together with other senior CBSL officials, representatives from international payment networks, and key stakeholders from the financial sector.
Commercial Bank’s presence at the event was marked by a vibrant and interactive stall, which served as a focal point for demonstrations, customer education, and merchant activation. Staff members engaged continuously with visitors, guiding them through the process of making QR payments, highlighting security features, and illustrating the speed and convenience of digital transactions.
“We are proud to partner with the Central Bank in this national initiative,” said Mr. Seevali Wickramasinghe, Commercial Bank’s Chief Manager – Card Centre. “The Bank has always been at the forefront of digital innovation, and we believe that empowering merchants and customers with seamless QR solutions is key to building a truly cashless economy in Sri Lanka.”
The first Sri Lankan bank to be listed among the Top 1000 banks of the world, Commercial Bank has the highest capital base among all Sri Lankan banks. The Bank is the largest private sector lender in Sri Lanka and the largest lender to the country’s SME sector. Commercial Bank is also a leader in digital innovation and is Sri Lanka’s first 100% carbon-neutral bank.
Commercial Bank operates a network of strategically located branches and automated machines island-wide, and has the widest international footprint among Sri Lankan banks, with 20 branches in Bangladesh, a fully-fledged Tier I Bank with a majority stake in the Maldives, a Microfinance company in Myanmar and a representative office in the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC). The Bank’s fully owned subsidiaries, CBC Finance Ltd. and Commercial Insurance Brokers (Pvt) Limited, also deliver a range of financial services via their own branch networks.
Photo caption:
Highlights of the “Pay Digital Dambulla” campaign.
