KATHMANDU – Nepal Clearing House Limited (NCHL), national payment system operator driving majority of the digital payment systems in Nepal, and Ant International, a leading global digital payment, digitisation and financial technology provider, jointly hosted an event ‘Gateway to Growth: Powering Nepal’s Tourism with Alipay+ & NEPALPAY’ today, emphasizing the partnership and role that international payments can play to support tourism sector in Nepal. The event was graced by the presence of Mr. Kiran Pandit, Executive Director, Nepal Rastra bank (the central bank of Nepal), Mr. Subash Chandra Ghimire, Director, NRB, Mr. Anil Sharma, CEO,

Nepal Bankers Association, Mr. Kumar Mani Thapaliya, President Nepal Association of Travel & Tour Agencies, Mr. Tek Bahadur Mahat, CEO, Hotel Association Nepal, Mr. Santosh Panta, Director, Nepal Tourism Board, Mr. Sittipong Kittiprapapong, Alipay+ Country Manager for Thailand, South Asia and Indochina, Ant International and Mr. Neelesh Man Singh Pradhan, CEO of NCHL and various dignitaries from banks & financial institutions and tourism sector partners. NCHL and Ant International recently launched the cross-border payments between NEPALPAY QR and Alipay+ in November 2024,

whereby 17+ international mobile wallets can scan and pay at over 1.2 million merchants in Nepal. With this the international tourists travelling to Nepal can make seamless payments to local merchants from their own domestic wallets/payment apps. The Alipay+ partners apps accepted in Nepal are: Alipay (Chinese mainland), AlipayHK (Hong Kong, SAR), Mpay(Macao, SAR), Touch ‘n Go eWallet and MyPB by Public Bank (Malaysia), TrueMoney (Thailand), GCash (Philippines), OCBC and Changi Pay (Singapore), Toss Pay and

Naver Pay (South Korea), Hipay (Mongolia), Bigpay (Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand), Tinaba (Italy) and Bluecode (Germany & Austria). The event also brought together local industry experts to discuss the role of digitalization and its

impact to tourism in Nepal and Nepalese businesses. During the panel discussion moderated by Mr. Sanjib Subba, Mr. Shubhash Chandra Ghimire, Director, NRB, Mr. Anil Sharma, CEO, NBA, Mr. Santosh Panta, Director, NTB, Mr. Sittipong Kittiprapapong, Country Manager, Ant International and Mr. Neelesh Man Singh Pradhan, CEO of NCHL, emphasized on the role of digital payment systems

to boost the overall domestic tourism and larger impact in creating digital economy. There was a joint opinion that the local businesses can ripe benefits keeping intact the traveller’s convenience and ease of payment. Mr. Neelesh Man Singh Pradhan, CEO of NCHL said: The strategic partnership between Alipay+ & NEPALPAY QR has been one of the first such cross border payment initiatives for Nepal. While we

are able to interconnect Nepal’s QR network and the retail payment systems with the global network, it has also helped to connect more than 1.2 million local businesses with over 1.7 Bilion plus users of Alipay+ network. We anticipate, it will largely support our inbound tourism sector by means of seamless and convenient cross border payments.

Mr. Sittipong Kittiprapapong, Alipay+ Country Manager for Thailand, South Asia and Indochina, Ant International, said: “Our partnership is more than just about tourism, it’s about how Alipay+ can work together with local partners in Nepal to promote digitalization of the industry, to drive more inclusive growth for merchants, to bring more global consumers to local businesses. We’re very proud to work with NCHL, building on their strong ecosystem, partnerships and infrastructure to support the local tourism and business communities.”

Mr. Kiran Pandit, Executive Director, NRB, said: “We believe the enablement of cross border payments is not just a technological advancement but a strategic step toward strengthening Nepal’s position as an emerging digital economy, while fostering tourism and economic growth. Adoption of QR usage is increasing in Nepal and this collaboration is expected to facilitate cross-border QR Payments and provide user friendly and safer experience for travellers to pay from their habitual instruments. As a regulator, we believe this will open up more integrations with rest of the world.”

Mr. Tek Bahadur Mahat, CEO, HAN said: “Nepal has huge potential in tourism and the strong presence of Alipay+ and NEPALPAY QR will help boost our revenue generation, transactions and help tourists to pay in Nepal seamlessly. HAN will support to implement and execute digital payments

to further facilitate tourists visiting Nepal.” Mr. Kumar Mani Thapaliya, President, NATTA said: “Cross-border QR Payment is a big step towards making Nepal as a digitally friendly destination. Tourists can pay seamlessly and securely in

Nepal whether it is hotel bill, shopping and many more like in their home country. NATTA is committed to support this QR payment initiative and help member learn effectively and promote Nepal as digital ready, safe and smart destination in international fairs and all across the world.”

As the cross border payment has started to pick-up, NCHL and Alipay+ will continue to drive more innovation and promote Nepal as a tourism destination through its network channels

About Nepal Clearing House

Nepal Clearing House Ltd. (NCHL) is a public limited company promoted by Nepal Rastra Bank and Banks & Financial Institutions of Nepal and has the objective to implement and operate multiple national payment systems. NCHL has been providing digital payment infrastructure services including electronic cheque clearing (ECC), interbank payment system (IPS), retail payment switch (RPS), connectRTGS, National Payments Interface (Open API platform), connectIPS (faster payment system& gateway) and CORPORATEPAY (B2B payment channel) and Domestic Card Scheme.

About NEPALPAY QR

NEPALPAY QR is the implementing infrastructure of NepalQR standard as part of the National Payment Switch (NPS) that operates as independent QR scheme and also facilitates interoperability of QR at issuing, merchant and network level. The network has access to more than 1.2 million merchants through NEPALPAY QR and it’s interoperable QR with scan & pay available from over 40 mobile banking apps, 11 wallet apps and connectIPS.

About Ant International

With headquarters in Singapore and main operations across Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Latin America, Ant International is a leading global digital payment, digitisation and financial technology provider. Through collaboration across the private and public sectors, its unified techfin platform supports financial institutions and merchants of all sizes to achieve inclusive growth through a comprehensive range of cutting-edge digital payment and financial services solutions.

About Alipay+

Ant International's Alipay+ is a unified wallet gateway with cross-border payment and digitisation services that help connect global merchants to consumers. Consumers enjoy seamless payments, a broad choice of deals and convenience of digital services using their preferred payment app/e-wallet while travelling abroad. Many small and medium-sized businesses already use Alipay+ digital tools to enhance efficiency and achieve omni-channel growth.