In the context of
Nepal concept of digital wallet started in 2009 AD after the launch of eSewa by
F1 Soft International. The introduction of eSewa revolutionized the concept of
digital payment in Nepal. Since then Nepal has seen different digital payment
service providers. These days the digital payment system provider are
increasing in numbers day by day providing the same kind of services. So, we
can say that such provider are mushrooming in Nepal with not
so differentiation. The digital payment systems like esewa, Khalti, IME
Pay, QPay, iPay etc. are struggling on their own in this competitive market.
As per Nepal
Telecommunication Authority’s latest MIS report, the country has over 132%
mobile telephony penetration and 59% broadband internet penetration. Likewise,
NRB’s latest statistics show that over 6 million people use mobile banking in
Nepal, and the number of internet banking users is around 1 million. On
the other hand, as per WorldBank’s 2018 Data in financial inclusion, only 45.4%
of Nepal's population have accounts on banks. So, digital payments system
like esewa, Khalti,IMP pay, Prabhu pay, Qpay, Ipay can play a significant role
to bring unbanked population to digital platform and provide financial
services.
Some of the popular
digital payment system provider
Esewa
Developed by
F1soft, eSewa is Nepal’s most popular digital wallet. Its number of users has
been flourishing every year. With eSewa, online transactions have become
astonishingly easy. Users are able to buy anything from mobile top-up, movie
tickets to flights through the service and all of it through some easy clicks
from a gadget.
With esewa it is
easy to book movie ticket from major multiplexes like QFX, BigMovies, BSR
Movies, View Cinemas Butwal, F-Cube Cinemas etc which accept payment via eSewa.
As for the flight ticket booking, both domestic and international flight
tickets can be booked using the eSewa wallet. For domestic air ticket bookings,
eSewa has partnered with some of the most frequently used airline services like
Yeti Air, Buddha Air, Saurya Air, Shree Air, and Simrik Air. Meanwhile, popular
online shopping portals like Threadpaints.com, Sastodeal.com, and Smart Doko
have also teamed up with eSewa, providing the digital-wallet with a scope that
no other company can boast.
The services
provided by eSewa do not end there. Users can save themselves the misery of
long and sluggish utility queues, by conveniently paying their monthly bills
online. Internet bills, newspaper subscriptions, and telephone bill payments
can now be done online. And though limited to a few places, eSewa has also
added electricity bill payments to its lineup of services. The mobile top-up
facility has also made easiness to people regarding recharge.
Khalti
Khalti was launched
by a team of young entrepreneurs on 26 January 2017 and since then it has been
focusing to impact the lives of people through its innovative technology and
services. NRB has provided license to the Khalti, Khalti team is encouraged to
take financial services to the next level. Khalti is playing its part in
driving the push for a cashless digital ecosystem, constantly expanding its
lineup of services and pushing other providers to up their game as well. In
order to lure users to Khalti, the service has rolled out various generous
offers, bonuses and cash-backs on transactions.
Initially, it was
available only for Android and web platform. Now you can get this wallet for
iOS devices as well. It has been providing with the services for DTH payment,
ISP payment along with other popular merchant payments. You can get tickets for
movies in almost all popular movie hall chain. It has extended its services to
pay the water bill in places outside Kathmandu as well. The reason for its
growing popularity has been the added services in almost every field possible. In
some cases of airline ticketing, you can get more bonus than its competitors.
It is easy to load
your Khalti wallet using different bank accounts. The popularity graph for this
digital payment provider has gone up massively and it continues to grow in recent
time. Apart from the regular services given by digital wallet, Khalti has
partnered with OYO hotel chain recently. You can book more than 30 hotels from
OYO chain in Kathmandu and Pokhara. There is a facility to pay for different
event tickets via scan. Khalti is almost shoulder-to-shoulder with eSewa.
IME Pay
IME pay, is a
mobile money service offered by International Money Express (IME) that can be
linked to accounts at a range of banks and supports both face-to-face (offline)
and remote (online, e-commerce) payments at a range of merchants and billers.
Customers can also load or withdraw cash at an IME pay agent location.
IME Pay offers a wide range of payment gateway for its users. The
services available from this app include airline ticketing, bus ticketing,
utility payment, remittance, ISB payment, Telephone bill payment etc. The
digital wallet is also giving you tickets for Chandragiri Hills Cable car. You
can enjoy your digital life that is hassle-free with no queue and no penalty
for delay. You can simply do your work sitting at home or even when you are at
the go.
NRB's New Directive on Digital Payment System.
Nepal Rastra Bank
(NRB), the central bank of Nepal has issued a new directive on 17th June
2018 imposing ceilings on digital transaction in Nepal. The major
objective behind the new directive of Nepal Rastra Bank is to systematize the
digital payment system in Nepal considering all sectors concerned and
international norms. NRB has raised transaction limits on digital banking and
payments.
As per the latest
directive on 17th June 2018 from Nepal Rastra Bank:
1.
Banks and financial
institutions are allowed to issue pre-paid card facility of up
to Rs 100,000 at one time, and users of pre-paid card may withdraw Rs 500 to Rs
25,000 in one transaction and up to Rs 50,000 per month.
2.
Debit
card users can withdraw a minimum of Rs 500 to the maximum of Rs 25,000 at
a time, up to Rs 100,000 in a day, and a total of 4 transactions in a day.
3.
Credit
card users will be allowed to withdraw cash only up to 10 percent of the
credit limit. However, credit cards cannot be used for cash transactions.
4.
Using Mobile
Banking, you can make payment of up to Rs 50,000 in a day and Rs 100,000 in a
month.
5.
Similarly,
using internet banking, you will be able to make payment of up to Rs
10,00,000 in a day and Rs 30,00,000 in a month. Also, you can make the transfer
of Rs 10,00,000 at a time and up to Rs 50,00,000 funds in a month using
internet banking.
6.
Likewise,
using digital wallets like esewa, Khalti, IME pay you will be able to able
to make payment of up to Rs 25,000 a day and Rs 50,000 in a month. You can
top-up up to Rs 5,000 at a time, Rs 25,000 in a day, and Rs 50,000 from Agents
and Sub-Agents (eg.esewa pasal, khalti pasal), and
make transactions in the same volume.
7.
You can transfer an
amount ranging from Rs 100 to Rs 5,000 at a time to your digital wallet from
bank account, and up to Rs 25,000 in a day. Your wallet cannot hold more than
Rs 50,000 at a time.
8.
It mandatory for
all users to fill up KYC (Know Your Customer) form to
carry out transactions above Rs 5,000. As digital wallet is a new technology in
Nepal, no such limitations were imposed earlier.
Limits on digital transaction after NRB's
New Directive.
|
Method of
Transaction
|
Transaction Limit
at a time
|
Daily Limit
|
Monthly Limit
|
|
Digital Wallet (eg.esewa, khalti)
|
Rs5,000
|
Rs25,000
|
Rs50,000
|
|
Mobile Banking & QR Code Payment
|
Rs5,000
|
Rs50,000
|
Rs100,000
|
|
Internet Banking (Merchant Payment)
|
Rs10,00,000
|
Rs30,00,000
|
|
|
Debit, Prepaid Cards (Withdraw or
Payment)
|
Rs25,000
|
Rs100,000
|
|
|
Kiosk Machines
|
Rs5,000
|
Rs25,000
|
Rs50,000
|
Impacts of new directive on digital
transaction in Nepal
The volume of
mobile banking transactions is showing an uptrend in Nepal and similar is the
case for payments using digital wallets. Digital Payments is slowly starting to
become a habit, especially among the young population. However, the new
restrictions imposed on internet banking and mobile wallets are sure to
directly impact online payment and e-commerce growth in Nepal.
Digital wallets are
largely viewed as a preferred mode of fund transfer for small value and to
promote digital transactions in Nepal among people who cannot easily open a
bank account, especially those in rural areas.
Some of the advantages of digital payments are:
- · Convenience & accessibility: Customers no longer need to carry cash or visit an ATM. In fact, they don’t even need to be physically present to pay! Customers can pay anytime from any part of the world.
- · Lower risk: Digital transactions are much more secure than traditional transactions because they are processed by secure gateways which are hard to tamper with.
- · Easily traceable: Details of payments are stored in a merchant-specific databases. Both merchants and customers have easy access to payment information. This avoids ambiguity and confusion while tracking payments.
This new regulation
might discourage the growth of digital transaction in Nepal, which is still at
a budding stage. Regulatory body should make the necessary provision for IT
audit rather than imposing restriction on the digital payment. Such limits and
restriction will lead our economy towards traditional economy in future and
also make impact on the digital and cashless Nepal dream. One thing that could
penetrate digital payment in people's life is none other than awareness program
to the public regarding use of digital technology. Nepal Government as well as
the Digital payment service provider must focus on such awareness activity
under CSR.
In the present
context, there are numbers of digital payment service provider in market. So,
we can say the digital payment service provider are mushrooming in Nepal with
not so differentiations. Due to which, none of them can sustain well in the
highly competitive market. So, either merging or doing different will
definitely give them a competitive advantage over others. There is also a role
of government and NRB is to regulate and encourage such payments service provider by which
customer would be benefited in terms of credibility and quality in service.
References:
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