UPI Merchant Transactions In Nepal Cross 100000 Milestone

NPCI International Payments Limited (NIPL) has achieved a major milestone by surpassing 100,000 cross-border Unified Payments Interface (UPI) Person-to-Merchant (P2M) transactions in Nepal, the NIPL said in a statement. NIPL is an international arm of the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI).

NIPL collaboration with Fonepay

NIPL collaborated with Fonepay, Nepal’s largest payment network, to launch the cross-border P2M UPI acceptance in March 2024. Supported by a Mobile-based real-time payment system, UPI is already widely accepted in several countries, including Bhutan, France, Mauritius, Singapore, Sri Lanka, and the UAE, making it one of the largest real-time payment platforms globally.

NIPL’s partnership with Nepal SBI Bank Limited

In addition to UPI, NIPL has also partnered with Nepal SBI Bank Limited (NSBL) to operationalise RuPay cards in Nepal, further enhancing cross-border financial transactions between the two countries, as per the statement. As reported by the NPCI, payments through the UPI have recorded a 45 per cent yearly growth.

Growth of over 35 per cent

The value of transactions also saw a growth of over 35 per cent, totalling Rs 20.64 trillion. This marks the third consecutive month when total transactions exceeded Rs 20 trillion. In June 2024, the total UPI transaction value was Rs 20.07 trillion, while in May it was Rs 20.44 trillion. As per the data, the average daily transaction value through UPI in July 2024 was Rs 466 million, or about Rs 66,590 crore.

Ten-fold increase in volume

Underscoring the success of UPI, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its monthly bulletin noted that UPI transactions have seen a ten-fold increase in volume, from 12.5 billion transactions in 2019-20 to 131 billion transactions in 2023-24, which accounts for 80 per cent of the total digital payment volumes. Unified Payments Interface (UPI) transactions experienced substantial growth, increasing by 57 per cent year-on-year in FY24.

Domination of PhonePe and Google Pay

Within this segment, PhonePe and Google Pay dominated, holding a combined market share of 86 per cent, according to the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) Banking Sector Roundup for 2023-24.