NDB's CEO Rajendra Theagarajah said the card was used by bank staff as an in-house canteen payment card.

"NDB will focus on marketing the card to large enterprises, government sectors and allied BFSI organisations like co-operative banks, etc. iTapIt will go a long way in helping the Sri Lanka's masses, who predominantly use cash right now.

"With iTapIt, we finally have a robust labour card solution for Sri Lanka's tea and rubber plantation workers. They can use this card to mark their attendance, record the number of hours worked and even collect wages through a simple tap," says NDB's Theagarajah.

iTapIt, launched by NDB Bank and YEP Colombo, a unit of Indian IT firm Yeldi Softcom Pvt Ltd, comes with both a magnetic strip and near-field communication (NFC) chip - that makes it useable at both conventional swipe machines, ATMs and next-gen Tap & Pay NFC terminals.

Sri Lanka's regulatory framework is more flexible than India allowing for the issuance of such dual-purpose cards. As many as 5,000 I-Tap-it cards have already been issued and the Sri Lanka lender aims at issuance of 5 lakh cards this year.

"Over the course of the next three years, we will aim at issuing at least 2 million cards. The iTapIt card can also be used at schools as an attendance punch-in card. At malls, restaurants the cards can provide useful information on consumer patterns - store foot falls, food preferences based on gender, age, etc. We are looking at the card as not just a payments solution but also for education and HRM solutions," says Lakshmideepa, CEO, Yeldi.