DirectPay having commenced operations in 2018, have today, gained the position of being one of the fastest-growing fintech startups to watch. They recently surpassed more than LKR 3 Billion worth of transactions that was achieved within a period of just two years.
Founded by Kanishka Weeramunda, Dinesh Karunathilaka and Sasindu Pathiranage the company was launched with the aim of transforming the financial landscape in the country for business, society and the government through the advent of offering cashless payments. Their solution offered an electronic payment option that provided a viable alternative to cash, where users could scan a QR code, enter their card details or use any of their bank accounts to make a payment. This was deployed through a mobile-based payment app, an Internet payment gateway or a payment link to receive remote payments, subscription payments where there’s a recurring revenue or it could be a bill settlement, all of which ensured a seamless journey to customers or service providers, covering the entire payment ecosystem.
Since introducing their solutions to the market, DirectPay has forged high-profile partnerships with the some of the foremost and leading financial institutions in the country, that included Cargills Bank for Visa and Mastercard, Nations Trust Bank to facilitate Amex, Discover and Diners Club payments and LankaClear to deploy the JustPay technology, to name a few. The successful implementation of each of these projects eventually led to DirectPay being the leading private fintech operator selected to manage QR based payment initiatives to Central Bank and the rest of the leading banking and financial institutions in the county.
Speaking of the successes reaped, Kanishka Weeramunda said “We are happy to say that our pace of growth has been exponential and with the unwavering market demand and the widespread appetite for our solutions among consumers and business alike, we expect to further enhance and grow our offerings over the next one year. With the challenging market situation currently faced, it is important to improve and re-imagine financial solutions and keep up to the pace of change required, and we are proud to have done this successfully, which in turn has led to the business growth we have experienced. “
Dinesh Karunathilaka, outlining the market opportunities they envisaged explained” from inception, we saw the advantages in how Sri Lanka can benefit from digitalising the payments process. For instance, anyone with a smartphone can make transactions including cross-border payments and purchases easily and efficiently. Digital currencies controlled by a central bank could avoid exchange rate risk and currency volatility if they are based on a range of currencies. Understanding these benefits led us to look at how we could serve the different verticals of cashless payments and incorporate them into our solution. Maduranga Ginigaddara, CFO of DirectPay added that the team had also put in place a solid business plan that helped to forecast and manage finances which in turn lead to a profitable and sustainable business.
Sasindu Pathiranage outlining the future plan for the brand stated “for the payments industry, COVID-19 and its consequences has provided the impetus to overcome consumer inertia to create an unprecedented global appetite for changes to how we pay, thereby disrupting the way money is transferred and how payments are made. Going forward, in a post-pandemic world, digital payments will become increasingly popular and widely used. People won’t care about where they bank but care more about how the transactions are being processed. Given these factors, we will be concentrating on three key priorities which would be security, cutting edge technology and transactional based lending for individuals as well as transactional based trade credit for merchants. Mariya Kaed, Chief Marketing Officer added that the company will also focus on exploring new opportunities through an innovative growth hacking model that will be based on a data-driven, experiment-based process to ensure in their target audiences being able to make the best use of their future brand offerings.
With their innovate and efficient operating model in place and targeted market plans, DirectPay looks well set to be a leader in championing the cashless payment industry in Sri Lanka.