KATHMANDU, JANUARY 13

If things go according to the plan, Nepal Telecom (NT) could launch its own payment gateway as soon as next month.

NT has submitted a proposal to the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) for permission to operate its own payment gateway. Considering the increasing demand for payment gateways, NT will be collaborating with the Rastriya Banijya Bank (RBB) to operate its own payment gateway.

After completing all the technical preparations, a proposal was submitted on Sunday for the final approval from NRB.

As per the central bank, all the documents and details submitted by the company have been examined and under the approval process.

The NRB will now inspect the company’s registration documents, offices, staffers, software, among other factors necessary to operate a payment gateway smoothly before it grants NT the permission to launch the service.

NT and RBB have jointly registered a company named Digital Payment Company Ltd for the operation of a payment gateway. The RBB will be the settlement bank for the digital wallet of NT. Digital wallet balance will be a separate balance and will not include the phone recharge balance.

According to the NRB, if the company has completed all the necessary procedures, it could receive a go-ahead from the central bank in February.

At present, only private sector payment gateways, including eSewa, Khalti, IME Pay, Connect IPS and Cell Pay, are in operation.