Travelers from several countries in Asia and Europe can now use their mobile payment apps to pay at over 875,000 merchants across Nepal.
This is enabled by a partnership between Nepal Clearing House Limited (NCHL) and Ant International, the operator of Alipay+.
The collaboration, announced at the Singapore Fintech Festival 2024, allows users of Alipay+ to make payments by scanning NEPALPAY QR codes.
Supported payment apps include Alipay (China), AlipayHK (Hong Kong SAR), MPay (Macao SAR), Touch ’n Go eWallet and MyPB (Malaysia), GCash (Philippines), Naver Pay and Toss Pay (South Korea), TrueMoney (Thailand), Hipay (Mongolia), Tinaba (Italy), Changi Pay, and OCBC Digital (Singapore).
The partnership aims to support tourism in Nepal while aligning with the central bank’s strategic goal of enabling global payment linkages.
Neelesh Man Singh Pradhan, Chief Executive Officer, NCHL, said,
“This is the first ever rollout announcement of cross-border payments for NEPALPAY QR and our interoperable QR.We are extremely delighted to showcase Nepal’s QR scheme and our retail payment system in the global arena.
This partnership will help foster the tourism sector in Nepal and also expected to enable seamless cross-border digital payments for the travelers of various countries who choose Nepal as their preferred destination.”
Edward Yue, General Manager for Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand, Ant International said,
“Nepal stands to benefit from tourism growth, given a growing preference for more sustainable and unique experiences, and together with NCHL, we’re proud to support joint innovation to benefit both local businesses and global consumers.
Standardised QR payments like NEPALPAY QR are a visionary development towards more vibrant and inclusive growth– and with tourism expected to grow even further in the coming year, we’re excited to support or partners and merchants in Nepal and around the world towards a new future of travel.”
Featured image: (From left to right) Edward Yue, General Manager of Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand, Ant International; Neelesh Man Singh Pradhan, CEO of NCHL; Vishrut Thapa, Chairman of NCHL; Douglas Feagin, President of Ant International
