Kathmandu: Nepal Clearing House Limited (NCHL) and Ant International have officially launched cross-border payment integration between NEPALPAY QR and Alipay+ at the Singapore Fintech Festival 2024.

This new integration allows travelers from 10 countries and regions, including China, Hong Kong, Macao, Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, Mongolia, Thailand, South Korea, and Italy, to make seamless payments in Nepal using their home country’s payment apps.

The announcement was made by Edward Yue, General Manager of Southeast Asia, Australia, and New Zealand at Ant International, and Neelesh Man Singh Pradhan, CEO of NCHL, during the festival. The launch event was also attended by Vishrut Thapa, Chairman of NCHL, Douglas Feagin, President of Ant International, and several global dignitaries and delegates.

With this integration, over 875,000 merchants across Nepal’s NEPALPAY QR network are now equipped to accept payments from Alipay+ partners. These include popular mobile wallets such as Alipay, AlipayHK, Tinaba, MPay, Touch ‘n Go eWallet, MyPB, Hipay, GCash, Changi Pay, OCBC Digital, Naver Pay, Toss Pay, and TrueMoney.

This launch builds on a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed earlier in May 2024, paving the way for enhanced cross-border payment solutions that benefit both international travelers and Nepalese businesses.