More than 101 million foreign payments were made through 5 thousand 129 transactions through Alipay Plus, Union Pay and WeChat system.
Foreigners have made more than 524,000 transactions in Nepal through QR codes, earning 1.587 billion rupees. According to the report on 'Major Works and Achievements from 2077 to 2081' released by Nepal Rastra Bank recently, this amount has been accumulated in transactions in Nepal through India's UPI and China's Alipay Plus, Union Pay and WeChat.
5 lakh 19 thousand 31 transactions were done only through the 'UPI Acquiring Service' (amount paid by foreigners using QR in Nepal) which was launched in February 2080. It is mentioned in the report that an amount equivalent to 1.49 billion rupees has been received from this. This is a transaction involving Nepal's PhonePay Payment Services Limited with India's Unified Payments Interface (UPI) system.
Since July 2081, there have been 5,129 transactions through Alipay Plus, Union Pay and WiChat systems, and more than 101 million foreign payments have been accepted. The National Bank has also granted approval to the service provider for acquiring (paying by foreigners in Nepal) as well as international issuing (paying by Nepalis abroad).
The data of Rashtra Bank shows that the international acquiring business is continuously increasing. In February 2080, when there were 6 thousand 8 transactions, 1 crore 5 lakh rupees were collected. It seems that the transaction number and Rukum have doubled in the next month i.e. 2080 Chait.
In March, Nepal received 32 million rupees for 13 thousand 831 acquiring transactions using QR code. Since August 2081, the transaction amount has continuously increased from 10 million rupees to 130 million rupees in October, 15 million rupees in October, 19 million rupees in November, 31 million rupees in January and 26 million rupees in January through international QR codes.
Rastra Bank had given permission to PhonePay and UPI to cooperate for international transactions through QR code from February 2080. The Rastra Bank has indicated that the expansion of international Person to Merchant (PtM) transactions through QR codes has benefited small businesses especially related to tourism.
Through international issuing transactions, Indian citizens working in Nepal can remit funds digitally to their accounts in India. "Indian citizens working in Nepal can send money for salary by electronic banking (e-banking), interbank payment, mobile banking, QR, and deposit it into personal accounts opened in Indian banks and financial institutions," the report says, "There is an arrangement that money can be paid abroad in convertible foreign currency, including passport facilities."
