Advice6 min read8 views
Updated 14 November 2026 · Written by the Wahanaya.lk team
Yes. The new finance company pays off your existing lease in full, your old financier releases its absolute ownership on the CR book, and the new company registers as the new owner with a fresh facility — you can't just 'transfer' the old lease as-is.
Yes, but it isn't a simple "transfer" of your existing paperwork. What actually happens is that a new finance company settles your current lease in full on your behalf, your old financier releases its absolute ownership entry on the CR book, and the new company then registers itself as the new absolute owner under a fresh facility. People call this "refinancing" or a "lease takeover," and several banks and finance companies in Sri Lanka openly offer it, usually to win you over with a lower rate or to let you draw extra cash against the equity you've built up in the vehicle.
In practice, you apply to a new bank or finance company for a facility to "take over" your existing lease. If they approve you, they get a settlement figure from your current financier, pay it off directly, and your current financier issues a letter to the Commissioner of Motor Traffic confirming the lease or mortgage is fully settled and can be cancelled. Once that cancellation is processed, the new financier registers its own absolute ownership entry and you start paying them instead, usually at a new rate and sometimes a new term. Pan Asia Bank and LB Finance are among the institutions that advertise this kind of facility — either as a straight refinance of an existing lease or as a "top-up" against a vehicle you've already leased for some time, letting you release extra cash as well as switch companies.
Yes — Sri Lanka's licensed finance companies are required to allow early settlement of a lease, and you should get a rebate on the interest you haven't yet "earned" for the remaining term, reflecting the reducing-balance nature of a lease. But the exact rebate calculation and whether there's a separate administrative or closure charge on top isn't fixed in the same way across every company, and it can change. Don't estimate this yourself — ask your current financier for a written early-settlement quotation before you commit to moving to a new company, so you know your real exit cost.
The new company treats a refinance largely like a brand-new lease application. Expect them to check your CRIB record (the Credit Information Bureau tracks facilities from banks, finance companies and leasing establishments across Sri Lanka), verify your income documents again, and usually commission a fresh valuation of the vehicle since its market value and condition have likely changed since you first leased it. If your CRIB record has fresh defaults or your income documents don't support the new facility amount, the refinance can be declined even if your current payments are up to date. Check your own standing before you apply, so you're not caught out mid-process while your old lease is already being settled.
Refinancing only makes sense when the saving from a lower interest rate over your remaining lease term is clearly bigger than the combined cost of the early-settlement charge on your old lease plus the documentation, legal and registration fees on the new one. A rate that looks a percentage point or two lower can still cost you more overall if there are only a year or two left on your current lease, because there isn't enough remaining term for the lower rate to make up for the exit and entry costs. Work this out with real numbers from both companies — not just the advertised headline rate — before deciding. You can rough out what a new monthly instalment would look like using Wahanaya's leasing calculator.
The most common mistake is assuming the move is free or automatic — it isn't, and every step (settlement, DMT cancellation, new registration) takes time and usually carries some cost. Another is not getting the early-settlement figure in writing before applying elsewhere, then being surprised by how little they actually save once the exit charge is deducted. People also skip checking their own CRIB record first, only to have the new application stall or get rejected partway through, leaving them stuck between two financiers. And many never ask their current company to simply match the better rate, even though that would avoid the whole settlement-and-re-registration process entirely.
If you're still weighing whether to keep your current lease, pay it off, or move to a new company, it's worth checking current vehicle values on price-check so you know what your vehicle is actually worth before any new valuation, and browsing vehicles if you're also considering trading up while you refinance. You can also post your questions on the Wahanaya forum — it's a good place to hear from people who've gone through a lease refinance with a specific bank or finance company before you commit.
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