Digitising economy

Nepal can expand digital payments by lowering costs and strengthening security.

The days when Nepalis had to wait in long queues at banks to deposit or withdraw cash, or to pay electricity, water, telecom and movie ticket bills are long gone. Once regarded as convenient methods for transactions and alternatives to cheques, even the ATMs have now lost their popularity. Digital payments have stolen the show, with even a small vegetable seller now using Quick Response (QR) code payment systems. Year-on-year transactions through QR increased by 103.66 percent and rose to Rs499.79 billion in the last fiscal year.