KOKO and Aitken Spence Hotels open new era for hotel payments in Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka’s buy now pay later platform, KOKO, has entered into a partnership with Aitken Spence Hotels, to make installment payments available directly within the group’s official, real time booking engine.  

The arrangement marks the first time a major hotel chain in Sri Lanka has embedded KOKO’s buy now, pay later capability at the point of reservation, enabling guests to split the cost of a stay into three equal, interest free payments and complete the entire transaction in just under 30 seconds. 

This is the first time a major hotel chain in Sri Lanka has integrated a buy now, pay later service directly into a live, real time official booking engine, making the payment option available at the very point of reservation rather than as a separate or offline arrangement. 

The partnership covers eight properties across Sri Lanka under both the Heritance Hotels and Aitken Spence Hotels brands, including Heritance Kandalama in Dambulla, Heritance Tea Factory in Kandapola, Heritance Ahungalla, Sentido Heritance Negombo, Earl’s Regency in Kandy, Turyaa Kalutara, Amethyst Resort Passikudah, and The Rainforest Ecolodge in Deniyaya.  

Guests can book directly at aitkenspencehotels.com, through the central reservations team, or by walking in at any of the participating properties, with KOKO available as a payment option in all three cases. 

The significance of the integration lies in where it sits in the booking journey. Historically, payment flexibility at premium hotels in Sri Lanka has been managed informally, through credit card EMI arrangements negotiated at check-in or handled over the phone. By embedding KOKO directly within Aitken Spence Hotels’ live reservation system, the option is now available at the moment a guest decides to book, on the hotel’s own platform, without any additional steps or intermediaries. It is the kind of experience that has become standard in retail, now applied for the first time at this scale in Sri Lankan hospitality. 

Michael Sathasivam, Regional CEO of KOKO, said the hospitality sector has historically been one of the more complex verticals for flexible payments, given longer booking windows and higher transaction values. “Integrating KOKO directly into Aitken Spence Hotels’ live booking engine means the flexibility is available at the point of decision, not as an afterthought. We see this as one of the most significant merchant integrations we have done, and a model for how buy now, pay later can work in travel and hospitality more broadly,” he said. 

Susith Jayawickrama, Managing Director of Aitken Spence Hotels said, “At Aitken Spence Hotels, we continue to look for ways to make travel more accessible, convenient, and seamless for our guests. Our partnership with KOKO brings greater payment flexibility into the booking journey, allowing guests to plan their stays with ease across our Sri Lankan portfolio.” 

The Aitken Spence Hotels partnership follows KOKO’s earlier move into the travel sector through a collaboration with FitsAir, making it one of the first BNPL platforms in South Asia to extend instalment payment options across both airlines and hotel bookings.