Nepal Clearing House Taps ACI Worldwide to Pioneer Card Payment Central Infrastructure
06 February 2024 - 6:00PM
Business Wire
ACI Worldwide (NASDAQ: ACIW), a global leader in
mission-critical, real-time payments software, today announced that
Nepal Clearing House (NCHL), a public limited company under the
leadership and guidance of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB, The Central Bank
of Nepal), has chosen the award-winning ACI Enterprise Payments
Platform for the establishment and operation of National Payment
Switch (NPS) that includes interoperability of card-based
transactions (NPS National Card Switch or NPS-NCS) and the rollout
of a domestic card scheme for Nepal (NEPALPAY).
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Currently, domestic card transactions are routed through
international payment gateways. Once this card payment central
infrastructure is established as a part of NPS-NCS, banks and
financial institutions in Nepal will be able to provide domestic
NEPALPAY cards to their customers which will help increase
acceptance, implement data localization and reduce transaction
charges.
"The establishment of National Payment Switch (NPS)
infrastructure and rollout of NEPALPAY card is expected to become a
significant stride in Nepal to reform and consolidate the entire
payment ecosystem. Our partnership with ACI aligns with our mission
to facilitate the development of secure and trusted new payment
methods and technologies in Nepal," said Neelesh Man Singh Pradhan,
Chief Executive Officer of NCHL. "ACI has a stellar track record in
providing scalable and innovative solutions to build transformative
payment capabilities, and we are excited to bring seamless and
convenient card payment services in Nepal."
NPS-NCS and NEPALPAY are part of the National Payment Switch
(NPS) initiative, the core infrastructure for routing and
settlement of retail transactions to ensure interoperability of
card and non-card-based payments within Nepal. The NPS initiative
includes the Retail Payment Switch (RPS) for handling retail
(non-card) transactions and retail instruments, which is already in
place including interoperable domestic scheme of NEPALPAY QR.
NPS-NCS and NEPALPAY is expected to be rolled out in the last
quarter of 2024. NCHL may explore the feasibility of migrating RPS
for interoperability of non-card-based transactions on the ACI
technology stack.
"NCHL is at the forefront of transforming the digital payments
landscape in Nepal, and ACI is proud to support NCHL with
cutting-edge technologies to supercharge this transformation," said
Thomas Warsop, President and CEO of ACI Worldwide. "With decades of
experience and unrivaled expertise in digital payments, ACI is
well-positioned as a trusted partner to help advance the
interoperability of payments ecosystems in Nepal and across the
world."
Nepal's transition from a cash-based economy to a burgeoning
digital payment ecosystem has been a remarkable journey with
positive impact on financial inclusion and economic development.
According to the Nepal Financial Inclusion Report 2023, the
percentage of adults using formal financial services has surged
from 61% in 2014 to 90% in 2022. Of these, 81% utilize banking
services, and 9% opt for other formal financial services. This
signifies an increasing adoption of financial instruments and a
notable shift towards digital payments.
"Nepal is going through phenomenal growth in digital payment and
building the momentum towards a complete digital ecosystem required
for a thriving and sustainable economy. We applaud NCHL for their
forward-thinking decision to invest in innovative technologies, and
we are confident that our proven and resilient solutions will
contribute to the success of Nepal's digital payment strategy,"
said Santhosh Rao, Senior Vice President, Sales – MEASA, ACI
Worldwide.
The ACI Enterprise Payments Platform is an end-to-end payments
hub solution that can be deployed on-premises or in the cloud,
enabling banks to future-proof their payments infrastructure. ACI
currently powers 25 domestic and pan-regional real-time schemes
across six continents - including nine central infrastructures -
providing solutions to central banks, participant banks, fintech
and other payment service providers. Globally, ACI covers
approximately one-third of the countries that offer real-time
payments services, reaching about 1.8 billion people.
About Nepal Clearing
House
Nepal Clearing House Ltd. (NCHL) is a public limited company
established on 23rd December 2008 under the leadership and guidance
of Nepal Rastra Bank (The Central Bank of Nepal). It has equity
participation from Nepal Rastra Bank, commercial banks, development
banks, and finance companies of Nepal and has the objective to
implement and operate multiple national payment systems. NCHL
recognizes banking & financial technology-oriented services as
one of the key ingredients for the BFIs to improve their
efficiency, productivity and also provide innovative financial
solutions to their customers. And NCHL intends to help them realize
these by providing various technology-based payment related
services without having to invest heavily into infrastructures by
the BFIs.
About ACI Worldwide
ACI Worldwide is a global leader in mission-critical, real-time
payments software. Our proven, secure and scalable software
solutions enable leading corporations, fintech and financial
disruptors to process and manage digital payments, power
omni-commerce payments, present and process bill payments, and
manage fraud and risk. We combine our global footprint with a local
presence to drive the real-time digital transformation of payments
and commerce.
© Copyright ACI Worldwide, Inc. 2023 ACI, ACI Worldwide, ACI
Payments, Inc., ACI Pay, Speedpay and all ACI product/solution
names are trademarks or registered trademarks of ACI Worldwide,
Inc., or one of its subsidiaries, in the United States, other
countries or both. Other parties' trademarks referenced are the
property of their respective owners.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240205347886/en/
Media Nick Karoglou | Head of Communications and
Corporate Affairs | nick.karoglou@aciworldwide.com Lyn Kwek |
Communications and Corporate Affairs Director, APAC/South Asia |
lyn.kwek@aciworldwide.com
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