Digital payments that have been gradually declining every month since the start of this fiscal year have plunged to the lowest in Magh (mid-January to mid-February). According to the latest data of the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB), electronic transactions worth Rs 3,653.871 billion took place in the month of Magh.
After five straight months of decline, digital payment had increased in Poush (mid-December to mid-January) by 12 percent. However, the growth failed to sustain as electronic payments declined by 11.86 percent in Magh.
With the sharp slowdown in economic activities in the last one year, digital payments have also taken a beating in this fiscal year. The latest statistics of NRB show digital payments have been continuously shrinking from mid-July to mid-February on a month-over-month basis.
Digital transactions in Nepal took a giant leap after the start of the Covid-19 pandemic in early 2020 which forced people to stay inside their homes during the lockdowns. Backed by the increasing use of smartphones, consumers were fast to adopt digital modes of payments and online shopping to buy daily essential items.
The monthly digit payments reached an all-time high of Rs 6,227.648 billion in the last month of FY 2021/22. However, electronic transactions have been on a decline every month in this fiscal year.
The NRB data shows digital payments worth Rs 5,688.626 billion took place in Shrawan (mid-July to mid-August), Rs 4,926.715 billion in Bhadra (mid-August to mid-September), Rs 4,605.316 billion in Ashoj (mid-September to mid-October), Rs 3.946.194 billion in Kartik (mid-October to mid-November) and Rs 3,697.658 billion in Mangsir (mid-November to mid-December). It increased to Rs 4145.904 billion in Poush (mid-December to mid-January) and then decreased to Rs 3653.871 billion in Magh (mid-January to mid-February).
Similarly, the real-time gross settlement (RTGS) shrank to Rs 2,295.804 billion in Magh (mid-January to mid-February) from Rs 4,349 billion in Ashar (mid-June to mid-July). In the meantime, cash withdrawals from automated teller machines (ATMs) declined to Rs 77.041 billion during the review period from Rs 79.459 billion in Ashar. Transactions made through the point of sales (POS) also decreased to Rs 3.88 billion from Rs 5.183 billion earlier.
However, mobile banking transactions increased to Rs 172.119 billion from Rs 162.255 billion. Similarly, Quick Response (QR) payments increased to Rs 17.765 billion from Rs 14.526 billion.
Digital payments were on an increasing trend till the last fiscal year. This trend has reversed in the current fiscal year. Bankers and experts point out the current economic slowdown for this. According to them, the spending capacity of consumers has been hard hit by rising inflation resulting in a decline in digital payments.
Guru Prasad Paudel, Chief of the Payment System Department at NRB says the decline in digital payments is a reflection of the contraction in economic activities. “The decline in payments through RTGS has led to a decrease in overall digital transactions,” said Paudel.
Electronic Payment Transactions
| Month | Amount | Change |
| Magh (mid-January to mid-February) | Rs 3653.871 billion | -11.86% |
| Poush (mid-December to mid-January) | Rs 4145.904 billion | +12.12% |
| Mangshir (mid-November to mid-December | Rs 3,697.658 billion | -6.29% |
| Kartik (mid-October to mid-November) | Rs 3,946.194 billion | -14.31% |
| Ashoj (mid-September to mid-October) | Rs 4,605.317 billion | -6.52% |
| Bhadra (mid-August to mid-September) | Rs 4,926.715 billion | -13.39% |
| Shrawan (mid-July to mid-August) | Rs 5,688.626 billion | -8.65% |
Source: Nepal Rastra Bank
