Payment gateways in Sri Lanka
Last updated: 26 August 2026 · Reviewed: 26 August 2026 · By: Alston Antony
All LKR figures verified 2026-08-27 against vendor pages.
For most Sri Lankan ecommerce sites, PayHere or WebXPay is the right starting choice - both ship WooCommerce and Shopify integrations, settle LKR into a Sri Lankan current account, and have documentation that a Sri Lankan freelancer can wire up in an afternoon. PayHere Lite runs at 3.30 percent with no monthly fee; Plus drops to 2.99 percent at LKR 3,990 per month; Premium reaches 2.69 percent at LKR 9,990 per month (all checked 27 August 2026). WebXPay Starter is LKR 10,000 for 12 months with per-transaction rates negotiated at onboarding. The blanket "use Stripe" advice we argue against ignores that Stripe is not available to Sri Lanka-registered businesses.
Sri Lankan payment gateways compared
| Gateway | Monthly / annual | Local card rate | Foreign card add-on | Platform apps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PayHere Lite | LKR 0 / month | 3.30% | +1% | WooCommerce, Shopify, custom |
| PayHere Plus | LKR 3,990 / month | 2.99% | +1% | WooCommerce, Shopify, custom |
| PayHere Premium | LKR 9,990 / month | 2.69% | +1% | WooCommerce, Shopify, custom |
| WebXPay Starter | LKR 10,000 / 12 months | Negotiated | Contact | WooCommerce, Shopify, custom |
| WebXPay Economy | LKR 59,880 / 12 months | Negotiated | Contact | WooCommerce, Shopify, custom |
| iPay (Dialog) | Custom | Custom | Custom | WooCommerce, custom |
| Frimi | Merchant-negotiated | Wallet-based | N/A | Custom API |
| LankaBangla | Bank-negotiated | Card, bank-set | Card-set | Custom API |
| Dialog eZ Cash | Per-transaction | Wallet-based | N/A | Custom API |
PayHere - the Sri Lankan default
PayHere is the market default for a first Sri Lankan online store. The onboarding needs a business registration certificate, a bank account in the registered business name, and a signed merchant agreement; activation takes 2 to 5 business days on Lite. Card rates are 3.30 percent on Lite (LKR 0 monthly), 2.99 percent on Plus (LKR 3,990 monthly), and 2.69 percent on Premium (LKR 9,990 monthly), all checked 27 August 2026 against the vendor's own fee card. Per-payment cap is LKR 50,000 on Lite and LKR 250,000 on Plus, which matters for higher-ticket categories. WooCommerce and Shopify plugins ship directly from PayHere.
WebXPay - subscription-first with mid-market fit
WebXPay uses a subscription model rather than PayHere's rate-first structure. Starter is LKR 10,000 for 12 months and suits stores getting off the ground; Economy is LKR 59,880 for 12 months and lifts business-volume ceilings to LKR 10 million to 25 million per month; Business is LKR 107,880 for 12 months for stores over LKR 25 million monthly turnover (checked 27 August 2026). Card rates are negotiated at onboarding rather than published. WebXPay's card and wallet acceptance is broad across Sri Lankan banks and it settles T+1 on higher tiers. Shopify and WooCommerce integrations are official.
iPay by Dialog - mobile-first buyer reach
iPay by Dialog reaches a customer base that PayHere and WebXPay do not: the Dialog wallet and mobile-first buyer. Setup runs through Dialog's merchant onboarding and typically takes 2 to 4 weeks; the WooCommerce plugin is official, Shopify wiring is custom. Fees are custom, so a store benchmarking against PayHere Plus at 2.99 percent should ask iPay for the equivalent blended rate at expected volume. iPay makes the most sense as a second gateway when the audience skews mobile, not as a replacement for card acceptance.
Sampath Vishwa - the bank-backed enterprise route
Sampath Vishwa runs from Sampath Bank's payment platform and suits established retailers with an existing Sampath relationship. Setup goes through the bank's merchant services team and needs a working current account with Sampath. Card rates are negotiated per merchant, usually inside the 2.5 to 3.0 percent band for volume merchants (contact Sampath for the current quote). Integrations tend to be custom rather than plug-and-play, so the fit is stronger for merchants with in-house developers than for a first-time WooCommerce store.
Frimi, LankaBangla and Dialog eZ Cash - wallet and niche options
Frimi, LankaBangla and Dialog eZ Cash cover payment flows that card gateways do not. Frimi is a mobile wallet from Nations Trust Bank with a small merchant footprint; Dialog eZ Cash is the operator's own micro-payment wallet, useful for sub-LKR-1,000 purchases and mobile top-ups; LankaBangla operates card processing for larger retailers on bank-negotiated pricing. None of the three replaces PayHere or WebXPay as the primary card acceptance layer. They add coverage for a specific mobile-first buyer or complement an enterprise POS.
How to choose a gateway in six checks
- Match plugin availability to the platform - WooCommerce, Shopify or custom.
- Compare blended effective fee: percentage plus fixed plus foreign card surcharge plus monthly.
- Check settlement schedule to the current account - T+1 versus T+2 matters at scale.
- Test the checkout on a real mobile phone on Dialog or SLT-Mobitel mobile data, not office WiFi.
- Confirm the dispute and chargeback process and who owns the risk.
- Read the per-payment and per-month caps against the store's largest expected order.
Not sure which gateway fits?
Tell us your product mix and volume - we will suggest which gateway pair we would run with.
Frequently asked questions
Which Sri Lankan payment gateway is cheapest for a small store?
PayHere Lite is cheapest to start - LKR 0 monthly and 3.30 percent per local card transaction (checked 27 August 2026). WebXPay Starter is LKR 10,000 for 12 months. For a store doing over LKR 300,000 monthly, PayHere Plus at LKR 3,990 monthly at 2.99 percent pays back within one month.
Can Stripe be used from Sri Lanka?
Not directly. Stripe is not on the country list for Sri Lanka-registered businesses as of 27 August 2026. Sri Lankan sellers who use Stripe operate through a foreign entity - typically a UK, Singapore or US LLC - which brings its own tax and compliance work. Confirm current Stripe eligibility before planning around it.
What is the foreign card surcharge?
Foreign card surcharge is an extra 1 to 1.5 percent added on top of the base rate when a customer pays with a non-Sri Lankan card. PayHere adds 1 percent on foreign cards on top of the tier rate. WebXPay's foreign card rate is negotiated at onboarding. Factor this into the effective fee if the store sells internationally.
Are wallet gateways like Frimi and eZ Cash worth adding?
Only for a mobile-first audience or a low-ticket buyer. Frimi and Dialog eZ Cash cover wallet users who do not use cards, but coverage is narrow and adoption is uneven. They complement PayHere or WebXPay, they do not replace card acceptance.
Sources
- PayHere fee card — Lite 3.30 percent, Plus at LKR 3,990/mo, Premium at LKR 9,990/mo (checked 26 Aug 2026)
- WebXPay pricing — Starter LKR 10,000 for 12 months, Economy LKR 59,880 for 12 months, Business LKR 107,880 (checked 26 Aug 2026)
- iPay by Dialog — Merchant onboarding page (checked 26 Aug 2026)
- Sampath Vishwa — Bank-backed merchant payments (checked 26 Aug 2026)
- Frimi merchant page — Wallet-based merchant offering (checked 26 Aug 2026)