Nepal to become first country outside India to adopt UPI-based payment system

The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) on Thursday said Nepal will be the first country to adopt India’s UPI system, which will play a key role in transforming the neighboring country’s digital economy.

NPCI International Payments Limited (NIPL), the international arm of NPCI, has joined hands with Gateway Payments Service (GPS) and Manam Infotech to provide services in Nepal. GPS is the authorized payment system operator in Nepal and Manam Infotech will deploy the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) in that country.

NPCI said in a statement that the collaboration will work for the betterment of the larger digital masses in Nepal and promote interoperable real-time person-to-person (P2P) and person-to-merchant (P2M) transactions in the neighboring country.

It said, “Nepal will be the first country outside India to adopt UPI as a payment platform promoting digitization of cash transactions and carry forward the vision and objectives of the Government of Nepal and Nepal Rastra Bank as the central bank.” “

This collaboration will enable last-mile consumers in Nepal to take advantage of an open interoperable payment system that drives instant payment transfers between bank accounts and merchant payments in real time. NPCI said it will also enable a way forward for real-time cross-border P2P remittances between Nepal and India.

Rajesh Prasad Manandhar, CEO, GPS, said that the UPI service has made a significant positive impact in India in terms of digital payments transformation of the country. “We are hopeful that UPI in Nepal will play a vital role in transforming the country’s digital economy and building a less cash-less society,” he said.

In 2021, UPI enabled 3,900 crore financial transactions worth USD 940 billion, which is equivalent to about 31 per cent of India’s GDP.

“At NIPL, we are committed to transform payments by taking our robust payment solutions to global markets and collaborating with local payment system operators. We are confident that this initiative will enhance NIPL’s technological capabilities and our unique offerings globally. will stand as a testament to the vision, NIPL CEO Ritesh Shukla said in the statement.

NPCI said that the real-time payments framework of UPI will help catalyze the process of financial inclusion in Nepal and also create more opportunities for businesses. It will help in modernizing the digital payment infrastructure of Nepal and facilitate digital payments to the citizens of Nepal.

Naga Babu Ramineni, Director, Manam said, “Manam has always been a part of major digital transformation in different regions of the world, we are confident that this partnership will remove all barriers to Nepal and cross-border payment transformation and transform the regional economy ” said.

UPI is one of the most successful real-time payment (RTP) systems globally, providing simplicity, security and security in P2P and P2M transactions in India.

Nepal has a population of about 30 million (3 crore), of which about 45 percent is banking. NPCI said mobile penetration of over 135 per cent with 65 per cent of the population using smartphones provides the basis for a seamless replication of the digital revolution in India, which will be replicated in Nepal.

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

NCPI stated that NIPL, an internationally focused subsidiary of NPCI, seeks to intensify collaboration with foreign partners in the areas of UPI, such as deployment, cross-border remittances, acceptance, use of indigenously developed technologies in digital payments. using, NCPI said.

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