WALLETS-LK-20261010Sri Lanka has two kinds of digital wallet, and the difference decides your fees and limits. Telecom e-money wallets, eZ Cash from Dialog and mCash from SLT-Mobitel, store money on your phone number under a Central Bank licence: a basic wallet can hold up to Rs. 20,000 and a fully verified one up to Rs. 150,000, limits the Central Bank raised from Rs. 10,000 and Rs. 50,000 in January 2024. Bank-linked apps such as FriMi from Nations Trust Bank, Genie from Dialog Finance, iPay from LOLC and the banks' own apps move money from a bank account instead, so their limits follow the account. Every one of them pays by LANKAQR, and since 6 April 2026 shops pay no fee on QR payments up to Rs. 5,000.
Main wallets compared, October 2026
| Wallet | Operator | Type | Typical use |
|---|---|---|---|
| eZ Cash | Dialog Axiata | e-money wallet on your mobile number, also USSD | cash-in and cash-out at agents, bills, rural users |
| mCash | SLT-Mobitel | e-money wallet on your mobile number | bills and transfers for Mobitel users |
| FriMi | Nations Trust Bank | digital bank account with wallet | free transfers between users, debit card, ATM cash |
| Genie / Dialog Pay | Dialog Finance | app linking cards, eZ Cash and bank accounts | QR payments, bills, card management |
| iPay | LOLC Finance | pass-through app, no stored balance | pays straight from your bank account |
| Bank apps (Flash, SOLO, SmartPay and others) | licensed banks | linked to your bank account and cards | everything a bank account does |
Bank-linked apps pull money from your account through LankaPay's JustPay network, which in 2025 connected 25 apps from 12 commercial banks, 4 specialised banks and 8 finance companies; a JustPay payment can be up to Rs. 50,000, with a one-time password from your bank above Rs. 10,000. For larger transfers, CEFTS moves up to Rs. 5 million per transaction, and the Central Bank caps the fee for a CEFTS transfer from internet or mobile banking at Rs. 25.
What it costs
| Operation | FriMi | eZ Cash |
|---|---|---|
| Registration | free | Rs. 100 for a classic account |
| Top-up | free by JustPay or NTB transfer | free from Dialog Pay or ComBank Flash, Rs. 20 by other channels |
| Send to a user of the same wallet | free | free |
| Transfer to another bank (CEFTS) | Rs. 25 | not applicable |
| Cash out | free at NTB ATMs, Rs. 30 at other banks | Rs. 25 up to Rs. 1,000, Rs. 100 for Rs. 5,001–10,000, Rs. 250 for Rs. 30,001–50,000 |
| Utility bills (Water Board, CEB, LECO) | Rs. 20 | Rs. 20 (CEB Rs. 10–20) |
| Card | virtual Rs. 400 a year, physical Rs. 1,000 a year | none |
Cash withdrawal through an eZ Cash retailer carries a tiered charge, not a flat one. Withdrawing Rs. 1,000 costs Rs. 25, while a single withdrawal of Rs. 10,000 costs Rs. 100, according to the pricing page effective from 5 December 2024. The band you land in decides what you pay.
The arithmetic is simple. Ten separate withdrawals of Rs. 1,000 cost ten times Rs. 25, which is Rs. 250. One withdrawal of the same Rs. 10,000 costs Rs. 100. Splitting a withdrawal into small pieces costs Rs. 150 more for exactly the same money.
In my opinion the tier table is the first thing to read, because most people lose money here without noticing. I would take cash out less often and in bigger amounts, and I would never break a withdrawal into small pieces out of convenience.
The fee pattern is clear: moving money inside a wallet is free, and you pay when cash comes out or goes to another bank. Taking Rs. 1,000 out of eZ Cash at an agent costs Rs. 25, 2.5%, while a FriMi user withdrawing at a Nations Trust Bank ATM pays nothing. If you mostly pay by QR and transfer to people on the same app, any of these wallets is close to free; if you live on cash, compare the cash-out slabs before choosing.
LANKAQR: one code for every app
LANKAQR is interoperable, so a shop's single sticker accepts payments from any of these apps, at more than 460,000 registered merchants by the end of 2025. Customers pay nothing. Under the National QR Payment Promotion Programme, the merchant fee is 0% on payments up to Rs. 5,000 since 6 April 2026; above that it is capped at 1.0% for local apps and 1.8% for foreign apps such as UPI, Alipay+ or UnionPay, and a single QR payment can be up to Rs. 500,000. Government services under GovPay may add a fee of at most Rs. 15. More detail is in our guide to LANKAQR payments.
Staying safe
Most wallet fraud in Sri Lanka works by tricking the user, not by breaking the app: fake QR stickers pasted over a shop's code, fake payment screenshots shown to sellers, and messages asking for a one-time password or PIN. Never share an OTP or PIN with anyone, check that the payee name in the app matches the shop before confirming, and as a seller hand over goods only after the money appears in your own app. The Central Bank requires payment apps to check that the SIM in the phone matches the registered number, which makes a hijacked account harder to use. If a payment goes wrong, complain to the wallet provider first and then to the Central Bank's Financial Consumer Relations Department. For a closer look at one bank-linked wallet, see our review of FriMi.
Before you top up or withdraw, do this with your own hands:
- open the pricing page of your wallet and note the band your usual amount falls into;
- compare the withdrawal charge with the fee your bank charges for the same cash amount;
- count how many small withdrawals you made in the last month and add the charges;
- write down one withdrawal amount you will stick to from now on.