Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi, Feb 17: The National Payments Corporation of India’s (NPCI) international arm announced on Thursday that it will deploy the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) in Nepal to support interoperable real-time person-to-person (P2P), person-to-merchant (P2M), and potential cross-border P2P remittances between Nepal and India.
Nepal is the first country outside of India to use UPI as a payment platform, paving the way for cash transactions to be digitalized.
To introduce UPI in Nepal, the NPCI International Payments Limited (NIPL), the NPCI’s global branch, teamed up with the Gateway Payments Service Pvt Ltd, an authorised Payment System Operator in Nepal, and Manam Infotech Private Limited.
“The partnership will enable consumers within Nepal to 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,” said Ritesh Shukla, CEO of NIPL.
It will pave the way for real-time cross-border P2P transfers between Nepal and India in the future.
In 2021, UPI facilitated 39 billion financial transactions totaling $940 billion in commerce, accounting for around 31% of India’s GDP.
With a mobile penetration rate of over 135% and 65% of the population using smartphones, Nepal is well positioned to emulate India’s digital revolution in a seamless manner.
All three firms will collaborate closely in the coming months to launch UPI in Nepal as well as all of the current functionalities and features accessible in India.
