Aligning banking tech to growth: Inside HNB’s emerging innovation ecosystem

INNOVATION thrives on collaboration, creativity, and experimentation. Yet in tightly regulated industries such as banking, innovation operates under fundamental constraints.

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HNB Managing Director/CEO Damith Pallewatte HNB Executive Vice President /Chief Innovation Officer Chandima Cooray

Managing the tension between delivering services with the speed and accessibility customers demand while maintaining stability and regulatory compliance creates fundamental obstacles for the banking industry.

This challenge also arrives at a decisive economic moment. Sri Lanka is accelerating its digital transformation with the National Digital Economy Strategy 2030 targeting a 4x increase in the digital economy to $ 15 billion by 2030.

While ambitious, the experiences of economies and institutions that have pursued progressive innovation approaches have unlocked exponential growth. Given the challenges and opportunities ahead, HNB Managing Director/CEO Damith Pallewatte believes such an exponential journey is no longer optional for Sri Lanka.

“We are encouraged by the recent momentum and sincere commitment that we are seeing from all sides to accelerating Sri Lanka’s digital economy. I believe all Sri Lankans understand the immense challenges that we must overcome to ensure a durable recovery. Digitalised banking infrastructure will serve as the foundation of this transformation, unlocking transformative productivity gains,” he said.

For an organisation like HNB that has been aggressive in its digital transformation, innovation — both strategic and technological, is part of its DNA.

From its early history to the present, the bank has been a first-mover on partnerships and technologies that deliver meaningful progress on financial inclusion and empowerment for individuals and enterprises across the island.

According to Pallewatte, those foundations together with recent strategic realignments are now clearing the path for an ambitious new wave of innovation-led growth as part of a broader push to make HNB Sri Lanka’s most future-ready bank.