NPCI to deploy UPI payment platform in Nepal

NPCI International Payments Ltd. (NIPL), the international arm of National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI), has announced its partnership with Gateway Payments Service Pvt Ltd. and Manam Infotech Private Limited, to deploy Unified Payments Interface (UPI) based payment system in Nepal.

The partnership aims to bolster interoperable real-time Person to person (P2P) and Merchant payment transactions (P2M) and potential cross-border P2P remittances between both the nations, as revealed by NPCI. Incidentally, Nepal is the first country outside India to adopt UPI as the payments platform. 

UPI is an instant real-time payment system, allowing users to transfer money on a real-time basis, across multiple bank accounts without revealing details of one’s bank account to the other party. In 2021, UPI enabled 39 billion financial transactions amounting to commerce worth $940 billion, which is equivalent to approximately 31% of India’s GDP. 

Ritesh Shukla, CEO of NIPL, said, “This partnership will enable consumers within Nepal transact swiftly using state-of-the-art UPI platform and deliver a seamless user experience. We are confident that this initiative will stand as a testimony to NIPL’s technological capabilities and vision of scaling our unique offerings globally.”

Over the next few months, all three companies will work closely together to deploy UPI in Nepal along with all the functionalities and features presently available in India.

NIPL maintains that this collaboration will enable the last-mile consumers in Nepal to reap the benefits of an ‘open interoperable payments system’ driving immediate payment transfers between bank accounts and merchant payments in real-time.

Rajesh Prasad Manandhar, CEO of GPS, said, “The same UPI service has created a significant positive impact in India in terms of the country’s digital payment transformation. We expect UPI in Nepal would play a pivotal role in transforming the digital economy of the country and dreams of building a less-cash society.” 

NPCI has revealed that Nepal has a population of approximately 30 million with around 45% banked and mobile penetration of over 135% with 65% of the population using smartphones provides an opportunity to catalyse the digital economy of that country.