Fintech & digital payments rules in Nepal (2026)

The Payment and Settlement Act, 2075 (2019) is the governing law; Section 5 prohibits operating as a PSO or PSP without prior NRB approval/license. The NRB Payment Systems Department regulates and supervises payment institutions.

NRB brought into effect the Licensing Policy for Institutions that Perform Payment-Related Work 2079 on 2 January 2023, replacing the 2076 (2019) policy. It sets minimum paid-up capital, letter-of-intent and application stages, and applies to entities operating payment work in or from Nepal.

NRB licenses two categories — Payment System Operators (clearing/switching infrastructure) and Payment Service Providers (wallets, gateways, instruments). Licenses are valid for 5 years and renewable (renewal fee Rs. 25,000), with renewal applications due ~90 days before expiry.

Nepal Clearing House Limited (NCHL), under NRB's initiative, operates the National Payment Switch (NPS), including the real-time Retail Payment Switch and NEPALPAY Instant — a VPA-based direct-credit instant rail — plus interoperable QR (NEPALPAY QR) and connectIPS.

NRB directives set quantitative limits on e-money: wallet top-ups capped (e.g. ~NPR 200,000/day, NPR 1m/month) and wallet-to-wallet transfers (NPR 50,000/day, NPR 500,000/month), with NRB amending online-payment directives in 2025 to curb fraud.

BNPL/digital lending is handled through NRB lending guidance (ceilings around Rs. 300,000–500,000 with tenures up to ~3 years) rather than a standalone BNPL law; there is no formal statutory open-banking mandate, though API interoperability exists via NCHL's NPS.