Jyoti Verma
Nepal on Saturday became the fourth country in the world to operationalise India’s e-payment system RuPay. Bhutan, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates have already launched the card. The Centre said the launch of the card in Nepal would open new vistas for cooperation in financial connectivity and strengthen people-to-people linkages.
The decision to operationalise the electronic payment system in the Himalayan nation was jointly taken by India and Nepal during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s meeting with his Nepalese counterpart Sher Bahadur Deuba in New Delhi. “Introduction of RuPay card in Nepal will add a new chapter to our financial connectivity,” Modi said in his media statement after the talks.
Sher Bahadur Deuba arrived in New Delhi on Friday in his first bilateral visit abroad after becoming prime minister for the fifth time in July 2021. The prime ministers held talks covering wide-ranging issues, including cooperation in areas of trade, investment and energy.
RuPay card scheme was launched in 2012 as part of the Reserve Bank of India’s vision to have a domestic, open and multilateral system of payments.
Nepal SBI Bank (NSBL), a subsidiary of SBI and Nepal’s largest international bank, worked on the initiative for over a year with support from Nepal’s Central Bank, say media reports. Observers believe that the launch of the card in Nepal will forge a new path to financial convenience and empowerment using technology and innovation. The card will not only enable ease of payment for RuPay car holders, but also uplift Nepal’s payment ecosystem capabilities, say experts believe.
