How to integrate with a payment gateway in Sri Lanka: A comprehensive guide

Having access to a payment gateway in Sri Lanka is probably one of the most important aspects of running a business online today. If you’re selling a product or service on the internet, your customers are going to expect an accessible and secure method to purchase from you, and this is where integrating a valid payment gateway comes into play.

As an online business owner, you might’ve looked around at your options for payment gateways in Sri Lanka. During this process, figuring out your payment gateway options, running them through various selection criteria, and learning how to incorporate the gateway into your website or online platform can become a little overwhelming.

However, if you want to establish yourself as a trusted online business, you need to ensure that your customers have the best purchasing experience with little to no inconvenience. Integrating an authorized payment gateway is the best way to guarantee this.

If you are looking for a comprehensive guide to understand your options on payment gateways in Sri Lanka, this is definitely the blog for you. In this blog, we’ll guide you through everything you need to know about payment gateways in Sri Lanka, and how to integrate them into your business. So, without further ado, let’s get started!

What is a payment gateway?

A payment gateway is basically a service that allows people on the internet to make or receive payments (ex: through a website or a mobile app).  Any transaction that takes place through a payment gateway in Sri Lanka or anywhere else does not involve paper cash. Instead, an electronic transaction takes place between you and your customer.

But how does a payment gateway exactly help you carry out these transactions online? Well, payment gateways are in the business of connecting the sellers’ banks with the buyers’ banks. These gateways also make sure that buyers on the internet have easy access to make payments online whenever they need to while making sure that all sensitive financial details of both parties (the buyer and the seller) and maintained.

So, to summarise – payment gateways in Sri Lanka:

1. Connects the buyer’s and seller’s banks on the internet,
2. Ensures that buyers can purchase online anytime they need to,
3. Safeguard any and all sensitive financial information of both the buyers and sellers.

What are the best payment gateways in Sri Lanka?

Payment gateway	Set up fee (LKR)	Recurring fee (LKR)	Commission per transaction	Settlement time	Approval time	Accepted payment methods	Currencies	Recurring billing	Split payments
Sampath Bank	15,000	45,000	Local- 3% Foreign -4%	2 working days	3 working days	Visa, Master and union payment	All Major currencies	yes	yes
Seylan Bank	20,000	30,000	3%	2 working days	1-2 week	Visa and Master	All Major currencies	yes	yes
Commercial Bank	10,000	36,000	2.5%- 3%	1 day	2-4 days	Visa and Master	Multi- currency	yes	yes
HNB Bank	None	6000 /monthly	2.75%-3.2%	1 day	1 week	Visa and Master	All Major currencies	yes	yes
Genie	30,000	N/A	2.3%-3%	2 days	2-3 days	Visa, Master, credit and debit	All Major currencies	N/A	N/A
Wexpay	15,000	Xwallet- 1000/month Xgateway-2490/month Xgateway enterprise-8990/month	Xwallet- 2.5% Xgateway- 2.8% Xgateway enterprise- 2.3%	1 day	2-4 days	Visa, Master & American express	All Major currencies	yes	yes
Payhere	None	Payhere lite- none Payhere plus- 2990/month Payhere premium- 9990/month	Payhere lite- 3.9% Payhere plus- 2.99% Payhere premium- 2.69%	2 days	1 week	Visa, Master & American express	All Major currencies	yes	yes
2checkout	None	2sell- 70.23 per sale 2subscribe- 90.29 per sale 2monetize- 120.39 per sale	2sell-3.5% 2subscribe- 4.5% 2monetize- 6.0%	1 day	2 days	All credit and debit cards	Over 200 currencies	yes	yes
Bitpay	None	None	1%	2 days	1-2 days	All major cr	12 currencies & cryptocurrency	yes	yes

Why does your business need a payment gateway in Sri Lanka?

The whole point of having a business online is to provide your customers with easy access to your products. Your website will help you showcase your offerings, but it can’t help you process payments online. The only way to do this is to integrate a payment gateway with your website.

Think about it, most of the businesses we see on social media usually follow one process when it comes to taking orders:

Step 01: Require their customers to directly message them when they want to purchase a product.

Step 02: Carrying out payments through cash on delivery or bank transfers. This method is highly inconvenient and beats the key purpose of having an online business.

And, as your business grows it becomes impossible for you to attend to every customer personally, instead, you should focus on giving your customers a validated payment process they can conveniently use from the get-go.

How to integrate a payment gateway to your website

The integration process of a payment gateway requires some technical expertise. While most banks provide services that help you with the integration process, other payment gateways in Sri Lanka like 2checkout and Webexpay has a self-service model.

Your business has to be registered in order to qualify for a payment gateway in Sri Lanka. The banks and the payment gateway providers will not allow you to start processing online payments if you’re not officially registered as a business in Sri Lanka.

So what can you do to make sure you cIn case you haven’t registered your business in Sri Lanka yet, take a look at Simplebook’s guide on how to register a business online in Sri Lanka (you can only register a business online now). The blog will guide you through the entire process! Now, back to the actual blog-

Make sure your company also has the following details on hand before starting the payment gateway integration process:

1. The business registration details;
2. An official working website to carry out transactions;
3. A payment gateway application.

Once you have your business registration details and a website set up, you can contact the payment gateway service provider to get your hands on an application for a payment gateway.

The bank/payment gateway service provider will then assist you, to complete the integration process.

What should you consider when choosing a payment gateway in Sri Lanka?

1. Security

Choosing an authorized and valid payment gateway that is known and trusted by your customers is important. Your customers should be safe when making payments through your website.

‘Read our detailed blog to learn everything you need to know about QuicMake sure the payment gateway providers you choose are certified with Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI-DSS).

2. Fees and service agreements

Before deciding on a payment gateway, make sure you explore and compare all of your options. Consider the best deal that complies with your business structure.

Take a look at if the gateway fee structure fits into your budget. Study the service contract closely to determine if it fits your business scale. Some payment gateways in Sri Lanka charge transaction fees when a certain order or transaction volume isn’t met.

You should also have your long term plan in mind when choosing a payment gateway. Your payment gateway should be able to adapt to changes and embed easily as you scale. This is why it is important to ensure that your payment gateway is available for all payment platforms like debit/credit cards.

3. Processing speed

You have to take into account the speed of money transfer when choosing a payment gateway. The processing time can be a unique feature that makes sure your customers get to experience a smooth payment process.

A payment gateway that has a cloud transfer option can be ideal if you are going for high processing speed. It will improve the efficiency of your operations, and help create an uninterrupted inflow of cash to your business.

4. Easy access to a merchant account

Being able to access information on things like how your customers are making purchases can be very useful for you as a business owner, and a payment gateway that offers easy access to your payment details can have a massive positive impact on your business.

Having easy access to your payment gateway dashboard and analytics can be handy when conducting business research to identify loopholes and improve the business.

5. Easy integration process

Integrating a payment gateway into your website is usually not an easy task. Most payment gateways have complicated instructions you’re prone to lose track of. 

This is why it’s important to make sure that you choose a payment gateway suitable to your website that could be easily integrated without botching your users’ experience. So, make sure that the payment gateway you choose is user friendly and does not slow down your website.

How does a payment gateway in Sri Lanka work?

Let’s take a look at the key parties involved when making payments using a payment gateway in Sri Lanka:

1. Merchant
2. Customer
3. Issuing bank (customer’s bank)
4. Acquiring bank (merchant bank)
5. Network 

How do these five parties work together to help people buy and sell on the internet? Let’s take a look.
Whenever an online transaction takes place through a payment gateway in Sri Lanka, it always follows these three stages:  

Stage one- Authorizing the payment

• The customer is asked to enter credit/debit card details once they confirm their order and proceeds to make an online payment. 

• Once they submit the order by selecting pay, the customer’s web browser will encrypt the payment information and send it to the merchant’s web server. 

• The gateway app on your website will then forward the payment details to the payment gateway. 

• Both the above processes are carried out via Secure Socket Layer (SSL) encryption. SSL makes sure that your transactions remain secure and confidential.

• Once it reaches this point the payment gateway takes over the process.

Stage two- Clearing the transaction

• The payment gateway sends the encrypted transaction details to the payment processor.

• The processor then forwards it to the network the transaction is happening on (for example, MasterCard or Visa).

• The network routes the transaction to the customer’s bank. Once the customer’s bank receives the request, they check if the requested funds are available to the customer.
• They then send a code to the payment processor indicating if the payment request is approved or declined. 
• The payment gateway then forwards this response to your website, which in turn interprets it and passes it on to you and your customer.
• This entire process happens within a matter of two to three seconds, which is remarkable.

Stage 03- Settling the payment

• Once the payment is approved by the customer, you as the merchant send an authorization to your bank via payment processor.
• When it is authorized, your bank deposits all the approved funds either into your merchant account or into the group merchant account belonging to your payment gateway.
• And finally, the payment is made into your business bank account from that merchant account.

If you’re interested in a more in-depth view, take a look at this video to see how these parties interact with each other whenever a payment gateway is used to make a purchase. 

Start integrating your payment gateway in Sri Lanka with Simplebooks

Before you start integrating a payment gateway in Sri Lanka with your website, you need to have the necessary documentation ready, like your business registration details.  It’s absolutely vital that your business has completed its registration process since it cannot access a payment gateway until then.

If your business has not been registered yet, or if you are an entrepreneur looking for some help to register your business in Sri Lanka, Simplebooks can help!

We’ve helped over 3,500 businesses register with the ROC and we’re here to help you too. Simplebooks can do all the work for you, so you can focus on growing your business. Our team will complete the documentation process of registering your business and then help you with the payment gateway integration process. 
Before you jump in, make sure you answer all of your questions with our team! They’re here to guide you through the entire process – and the initial conversation doesn’t have to cost you anything but your time.

You can book a FREE consultation with one of our team members to help you ease in to the registration process. 

FAQs