Aggregating innovation: Sri Lanka FinTech Summit aims to spark digital economic renaissance

SL FinTech Summit's mission to enable transformative change with coordinated ecosystem development

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IN the bustling streets of Colombo, a small garment manufacturer still conducts most transactions in cash, despite owning a smartphone more powerful than the computers that once ran entire banks. Across the city, a FinTech startup has developed innovative credit scoring algorithms but struggles to access the customer data that could make their solution transformative. Meanwhile, a major bank has invested millions in establishing secure digital infrastructure that while effective, still remains siloed mainly from the broader financial ecosystem.

This is the paradox facing Sri Lanka’s FinTech landscape: abundant individual capabilities existing within a fragmented system that prevents collective progress. The nation possesses all the foundational elements for digital financial transformation—robust banking networks, accelerating smartphone adoption, a digitally literate youth population, and policy frameworks signalling digital ambition. Yet the ecosystem remains stubbornly disconnected, with each player operating in isolation rather than as part of a coordinated value creation network.

Today, the average Sri Lankan completes fewer than 20 digital transactions annually, while citizens in India have surpassed 60 transactions per capita. Even smaller Southeast Asian economies are advancing rapidly on digital identity, open banking, and real-time settlements. What distinguishes these success stories isn’t superior technology or larger investments—it’s the presence of functioning ecosystems where regulators, banks, startups, capital providers, and academia operate in concert rather than silos.

Re-energising Sri Lanka's FinTech ecosystem