Digital transactions growing steadily

By A Staff Reporter,Kathmandu, Mar. 26: Recently, as the number of online users has increased, the digital transaction business has also started to increase.

According to the latest statistics of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB), the transactions using connect IPS, mobile banking, wallet, internet banking, ATM and Quick Response (QR) code have increased significantly in the current fiscal year.

Digital transactions have increased dramatically during the first seven months of the current fiscal year 2022/23 compared to the same period last fiscal year. In addition, the number of transactions and transaction amount has also increased significantly,

The NRB report showed that the use of payments based on Quick Response (QR) codes has increased at a high rate in the current fiscal year as compared to last year.

Around Rs. 17.76 billion worth of transactions were made using it in the month of Magh (seventh month of the current fiscal year) while Rs. 6.89 billion worth of transactions were made using QR code during the same period last fiscal year.

 Transactions worth about Rs. 14.81 billion were made using QR code in the first month (Shrawan), Rs. 15.02 billion in Bhadra, Rs. 17.33 billion in Ashoj, Rs. 16.14 billion in Kartik, Rs. 19.34 billion in Mangsir and Rs. 17.03 billion in Poush of the current fiscal year.

 Transaction worth about only Rs. 3.65 billion was made using QR code in the last fiscal year 2020/21 while there was no transaction in fiscal year 2019/20.

 Similarly, in the month of Magh of the current fiscal year, there was a transaction of Rs. 407 million from prepaid cards. During the same period of the previous year, transactions worth Rs. 314 million were made through the use of such cards.

 According to the NRB, the use of mobile banking in transactions has increased compared to last fiscal year.

 In the month of Magh of last year, transactions worth Rs. 92.76 billion were made by means of mobile banking, and it has reached Rs. 172.11 billion in the same period of the current year.

 Transactions worth Rs. 152.561 billion were made using mobile banking system in the month of Shrawan and Rs. 146.14 billion in the month of Bhadra, Rs. 162.17 billion in the month of Ashoj, Rs. 151.98 billion in the month of Kartik, Rs. 160.03 billion in the month of Mangsir and Rs. 167.8 billion in the month of Poush of the current fiscal year.

 Similarly, the business through the use of Connect IPS has also increased significantly during the review period.

In the seventh month of the current fiscal year, transactions worth Rs. 328.03 billion were made using Connect IPS while it was Rs. 236.42 billion in the same month of the last fiscal year.

 Transactions only worth Rs. 237.75 billion were made using Connect IPS during the fiscal year 2020/21 and Rs. 51.30 billion during the fiscal year 2019/20. 

According to the NRB, around Rs. 17.11 billion transactions were made through wallets in the seventh month of the current fiscal year. Using them, during the same period of the last fiscal year, transactions of Rs. 14.53 billion were made.

 According to the NRB, there has been a decrease in the payments made through Internet banking in the seventh month of the current fiscal year as compared to the same period last fiscal year.

 In the seventh month of last year, transactions worth Rs. 12.89 billion were made using Internet banking, and during the review period of the current fiscal year, transactions were worth Rs. 12.41 billion. Meanwhile, transactions around Rs. 79.69 billion have been made using debit cards by mid-February of the current fiscal year.

 The NRB has made a provision to provide loan at subsidised interest rate for those Internet service providers to extend its services in rural areas targeting to ease Internet services across the country.

 The NRB, which has emphasised on digital banking recently, has also started increasing the transaction limit and instructing banks and financial institutions to promote digital banking.

Along with this, mobile banking, including QR code transaction limit, has been increased from Rs. 200,000 to Rs. 300,000. Similarly, the NRB has also increased the limit of Internet banking transactions to Rs. 2 million.