Nepal Bankers’ Association Partners with Visa amid Shift Toward Domestic Payment Systems

The Nepal Bankers’ Association (NBA) has signed an agreement with Visa to promote financial security and awareness, amid growing adoption of Nepal’s domestic card schemes and QR code transactions that are reshaping the country’s payment landscape.

Under the agreement, announced Thursday, Visa will provide trainers for regionally organized awareness programs. NBA officials and bank CEOs were notably absent from the signing event. NBA CEO Anil Sharma stressed that the collaboration is not meant to promote Visa’s products but to strengthen general electronic payment awareness, saying it carries “no commercial conflict of interest.”

Visa recently opened its Nepal office, appointing Manoj Thapa as Country Manager, as the company faces increased competition from the Nepal Pay Card and other domestic solutions launched by Nepal Clearing House Limited (NCHL). While Visa still holds about 90 percent of Nepal’s debit card market, its share has been slipping as locally issued cards and QR-based payments gain ground.

NCHL, backed by Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) and commercial banks, introduced the Nepal Pay Card in March 2024 through the National Card Switch. Former NRB Governor Maha Prasad Adhikari said at the launch that domestic switching reduces payment costs and retains significant transaction value within Nepal.

Despite Visa’s long-standing dominance, the rise of QR payments and domestic card adoption has prompted the company to expand its local footprint nearly two decades after entering the market. Anand Vijay Jha, Visa’s Vice President for India and South Asia, maintained that Visa’s operations will not undermine domestic schemes, pointing to Nepal’s untapped potential in debit and credit card usage.

NRB data shows 13.5 million debit cards and 314,000 credit cards in circulation as of mid-May 2025. While Kathmandu alone has over one million regular income earners, credit card penetration remains low — a gap Visa sees as an opportunity.

Visa, licensed by NRB as a payment system operator since 2019, is headquartered in Singapore with paid-up capital of USD 8.97 million. NCHL, licensed in 2017, has a paid-up capital of Rs 1.26 billion, with 90.55 percent owned by banks and financial institutions and 9.45 percent by NRB.