Travellers from 10 countries and regions, including Europe, can scan and pay in Nepal using the NEPALPAY quick response (QR) code via their respective payment and bank apps.

Munni Rajbhandari, chief operating officer and information officer at Nepal Clearing House, said travellers from mainland China, Hong Kong, Macao, Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, Mongolia, Thailand, South Korea, and Italy can use their payment and bank apps to pay in Nepal through the QR code.

The cross-border payment for the listed countries started on November 7.

The launch was announced on November 6 at the global premier financial services platform, Singapore Fintech Festival 2024, by Edward Yue, general manager of Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand, Ant International; and Neelesh Man Singh Pradhan, CEO of NCHL, in the presence of Vishrut Thapa, chairman of NCHL, Douglas Feagin, president of Ant International.

It follows a memorandum of understanding signed between NCHL and Ant International in May 2024.

Alipay+ has enabled its partners, such as Alipay (Chinese mainland), AlipayHK (Hong Kong), Tinaba (Italy), MPay (Macao), Touch ‘n Go eWallet and MyPB by Public Bank Berhad (Malaysia), Hipay (Mongolia), GCash (the Philippines), Changi Pay and OCBC Digital (Singapore), Naver Pay and Toss Pay (South Korea), and TrueMoney (Thailand), to use cross-border payment in Nepal.

“As the nationals of listed countries now can scan and pay in Nepal, we will be working for Nepali nationals to make payments in those respective countries in the second phase,” said Rajbhandari. As many parties get involved in launching the service, revealing the specific timeline is not possible, she said.

Nepal Clearing House is a public limited company promoted by Nepal Rastra Bank and banks and financial institutions of Nepal. It aims to implement and operate multiple national payment systems.

NEPALPAY QR is the implementing infrastructure of the NepalQR standard as part of the National Payment Switch. It operates as an independent QR code scheme and also facilitates the interoperability of QR codes at the issuing, merchant, and network levels.

NepalQR network has access to more than 875,000 merchants through NEPALPAY QR. It is an interoperable QR code scheme with scan-and-pay available from over 40 mobile banking apps, 11 wallet apps, and connectIPS.

Edward Yue, general manager for Southeast Asia, Australia, and New Zealand at Ant International, said: “Nepal stands to benefit from tourism growth, given a growing preference for more sustainable and unique experiences. 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 our partners and merchants in Nepal and around the world towards a new future of travel.”

Pradhan, CEO of NCHL, said: “This is the first-ever rollout announcement of cross-border payments for NEPALPAY QR and our interoperable QR. We are delighted to showcase Nepal’s QR scheme and retail payment system globally.

“This partnership will help foster the tourism sector in Nepal and is also expected to enable seamless cross-border digital payments for the travellers of various countries who choose Nepal as their destination. This partnership between NCHL and Alipay+ for enabling merchant payments is a major milestone for both the entities for their commitment towards fostering global partnerships.”

According to the Nepal Tourism Board, more than 900,000 tourists arrived in Nepal from January to October this year.

Introduced by Ant International in 2020, Alipay+ now connects over 88 million merchants in 57 countries and regions to 1.5 billion consumer accounts across over 25 e-wallets and bank apps.

It allows consumers to travel and pay hassle-free globally and merchants to expand cross-border consumer engagement and digital marketing.

The service also builds on Alipay+’s extensive regional partnerships, including collaborations with national QR schemes such as Singapore’s SGQR, Malaysia’s PayNet, South Korea’s ZeroPay, Sri Lanka’s LankaPay, and Cambodia’s KHQR.

“We are ready to start QR code payment in India, but since it is a government-level initiation, we will launch the service if the government announces it,” said Rajbhandari.

On June 1 last year, Nepal and India signed a memorandum of understanding for cross-border digital payment during the erstwhile prime minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal's visit to New Delhi.

Dahal said that the MoU between the two agencies would ease cross-border payments, which are much needed by businesspeople, students, pilgrims, and travellers from both Nepal and India.

On March 1, Indians in Nepal were allowed to make payments through their mobile phones.