Application Process

Who can sign up for a PayHere Merchant Account?

• Any Business in Sri Lanka who sells goods or services to local or foreign customers & accepts payments remotely in exchange.

What are the prerequisites to apply for a PayHere Merchant Account?

1. A valid Business
2. A Bank Account at any local bank

How can we sign up for a PayHere Merchant Account?

• PayHere has an Online sign up process where you can sign up instantly & submit your business details for review & approval conveniently.

• Here's how you can sign up for a PayHere Merchant Account Online.

  1. First sign up for a user account & verify your email address.
  2. Then sign in to your account & complete the Activation Form.
  3. After that, wait for few days until your business gets reviewed by one of our partner banks.

• That's it. You'll be then notified by an email when your business gets approved & you can start accepting payments from then onward.

What are the allowed Business types?

• Private Limited Company (සීමාසහිත පුද්ගලික සමාගම්)
• Sole Proprietorship Business (තනි පුද්ගල ව්‍යාපාර)
• Partnership Business (හවුල් ව්‍යාපාර)
• Clubs & Associations (සමිති සහ සංගම්)
• Home-based Business (ගෘහස්ථ ව්‍යාපාර)
• Freelance Business (නිදහස් ව්‍යාපාර)
• Government Organizations (රාජ්‍ය ආයතන)

Is a Business Registration required to apply for PayHere?

• A Business Registration is required for Private Limited Companies, Sole Proprietorship Businesses & Partnership Businesses.
• A Business Registration is not required for Clubs & Associations, Home-based Businesses, Freelance Businesses & Government Oraganizations. But instead, a valid proof of business is required.

What are the valid proof of Business that can be submit?

• If you run a Home-based Business through social media, you can provide your active social media page or eCommerce website if you have.
• If you run a Freelance Business, you can provide your Profile page on Freelancing platforms such as Fiverr or Upwork & your academic, professional or membership certificate if you have.
• If you're a Club or Association, you can provide a signed meeting minute on your club/society's letter head declaring your club/society's decision to use PayHere as your payment gateway provider.
• If you're a Government Organization, you can provide the incorporated Act or Gazzette of your government organization.

Can PayHere be used to collect donations online?

• No. As per the regulations, PayHere can strictly be used only for business payments, where a good or a service is delivered to the payee in exchange for the payment.

Who should sign the Merchant Agreement?

• It depends on your business type.
  • Private Limited Company - Two directors & the company secretary should sign on respective designation rubber stamps. (If your company has only one director, the director & the company secretary should sign the agreement.)
  • Sole Proprietorship Business - The proprietor should sign the agreement on Proprietor seal.
  • Partnership Business - All the partners of your business should sign the agreement on Partner seal.
  • Clubs & Associations - The office bearers such as the president & the secretary should sign the agreement.
  • Home-based Business - The business owner should sign the agreement.
  • Freelance Business - The Freelancer should sign the agreement.
  • Government Organizations - The Director General should sign the agreement.

Do we need to have a Business Bank Account to collect payments?

• If you're a Private Limited Company, a Partnership Businesses or a Sole Proprietorship Business, you should have a Business Bank Account at any local bank to collect your payments.
• But if you're a Home-based Business or a Freelance Business, you can use your personal bank account at any local bank to collect your payments.
• Government Organizations should have a bank account at any local bank under the ownership of the Goverment Organization.

Does the account need to be a current account?

• Not necessarily. You can either have a current or a saving account.

Can we collect our foreign customer payments into a USD bank account?

• Yes. PayHere exclusively provides USD Payouts support, through which you can collect your foreign customer payments directly into your USD Bank Account without converting them to LKR.
• You need to select "USD" as your "Payout Currency" in the Activation Form, if you wish to collect your payments in USD.
• Please note that this facility is currently available only for registered business entities who choose PayHere Plus or Premium plans.

How long will it take to review & approve my business?

• Your business has to be reviewed by one of our partner banks before providing approval, as per the Central Bank regulations. Therefore it will take 1 to 3 days.

What are the things that I should make sure to get my business approved soon?

• Please make sure you enter all the details correctly without typos & upload the clear scanned copies of the required documents.
• If you're planning to integrate PayHere into a website or app, please make sure the following things.
  • Your website or app should be complete & ready to go live with actual goods/services to be sold. Websites or apps under construction, includes mock products/services or incomplete content will be rejected.
  • Your website or app should clearly display your business’s Terms, Return Policy & Privacy Policy. Missing these policies in your website or app will lead to rejection. You may use these policy samples to draft policies for your business & display them on your website or app.
  • Your website or app should display your business's contact details such as your registered business name, business phone number, business email address & postal address of your business place. Missing these contact details may lead to rejection.
• Please make sure you upload a valid proof of your bank account to verify the account number.
  • If your bank account already has transactions, you can upload a scanned copy of your printed bank statement or a screenshot of your e-bank statement, with the bank account number clearly visible.
  • If your bank account is new, you can get a "Letter of Account Confirmation" from your bank & upload that instead of the bank statement.
• Please make sure you sign the agreement properly & upload a clear scanned copy of the signed agreement.
  • If your business is registered, the relevant signatures should placed along with the relevant rubber stamps.
  • If your business is not registered, the signature of the business owner should be placed & no rubber stamps required.
  • If you're placing your signature digitally, please make sure it's digital image matches exactly with your manual signature.

What happens if my business is got rejected?

• If your business is got rejected due to the issues in the details you provided on Activation Form, you will be informed about them via Email & you have the chance to resolve those issues & resubmit the Activation Form for approval.
• However, if your business got rejected due to the nature of your business or any other issue identified by our partner banks, you will not be able to reapply unfortunately.
• Please note that the approvals are directly handled by one of our partner banks due to payment regulations & therefore we have no control over the approval or the rejection.

Are there any business categories not supported by PayHere?

• Yes. Following business categories & business models cannot obtain PayHere services due to payment regulations & partner bank policies.

  • Unsupported Business Categories

    • Gems & Jewellery business
    • Unauthorized Software license business
    • Outbound tour services
    • Dating services
    • Astrology services

  • Unsupported Business Models

    • Drop-shipping
    • Print-on-demand
    • Multi-vendor platform