Cross-border transactions will soon become a reality. Nepali enterprise Gateway Payments Service Pvt. Ltd. and Manam Infotech Private Limited have partnered with NPCI International Payment Limited (NIPL) to bring India’s revolutionary Unified Payment Interface. This alliance will form interoperability and Mobile-first technology-based UPI Nepal allowing users to perform transactions through the banking and digital wallets of Nepali and Indian mobile payment vendors.

This also makes Nepal the first country to adopt India’s massively popular UPI in mobile payment platforms.

The three companies will work closely to deploy UPI in Nepal. As per the news, the first phase of services will roll out in the next three months. Nepali users will get all the functions and features in UPI as they are currently available in India.

Meanwhile, Gateway Payment will be responsible to maintain the UPI system in Nepal. It will head the operations as an Authorized Payment System Operator by Nepal Rastra Bank. 

What does cross-border transactions Bring to us?

It will enable real-time Person to Person (P2P) and merchant payments between Nepali and Indian mobile payment platforms. It means Nepalese can use eSewa, Khalti, or banking apps to transfer money or pay for Indian services in India.

Also, popular Indian platforms like Paytm, PhonePe, Google Pay, etc will allow transferring money to any banks or digital wallets in Nepal instantly. Indian users could pay with those apps or scan FonePay QR or other codes when they are in Nepal.

What Was Said?

Rajesh Prasad Manandhar, CEO of GPS hailed the cross-border transaction facility as significant to driving Nepal’s digital economy. He 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.”

LIkewise, Ritesh Shukla, CEO of NIPL shared similar enthusiasm. He then pitched the agreement as a step up for NIPL’s broader ambitions. He expressed his delight in the partnership with Nepali companies.

“We are excited about this partnership, which will enable consumers within Nepal to transact swiftly using a 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,” Shukla added. 

Naga Babu Ramineni, Director of Manam extended his own delightful sentiments. He said, “Manam has always been part of major digital transformation across the various regions of the world, we believe this partnership will eliminate all the 2. barriers of payment transformation within Nepal and across the border thereby transforming the regional economy. Manam Infotech will provide the UPI technology and operations support working closely with GPS in Nepal.

Another Milestone towards digital economy

Currently, Nepal has seen a series of interoperability among domestic mobile payment solutions. Khalti has joined FonePay’s network. Prabhu has also followed. Federal Bank NRB has released a directive to implement interoperability between all the mobile payment vendors in the next 6 months.

Now, the transaction interoperability between Nepali and Indian mobile payment platforms will be another milestone for a cashless economy.

Implementation of UPI Nepal will greatly influence the digital economy and help realize the government’s Digital Nepal framework.

Nepal’s mobile subscribers have crossed 130 percent with 65 percent population carrying a smartphone. These encouraging data will help realize a cross-border transaction revolution among the peoples of both countries.