SriLanka, Sept. 4 -- Sri Lanka's push to deepen digital payments is moving into the plantation economy, with UNDP and Visa launching a pilot aimed at shifting income and payment flows among estate-based agricultural producers from cash towards formal digital financial channels.

The seven-month initiative will begin at Hope Estate in Hewaheta, Nuwara Eliya, targeting 50 young agri-producers, most of them women, with financial literacy training, digital onboarding and access to formal financial services.

A key component will be the gradual digitisation of income and payment flows within local agricultural value chains, in an effort to reduce reliance on cash and increase the use of formal financial systems.

The programme seeks to address...