Summary✨
- Nepal Rastra Bank has set new digital payment limits under the Unified Directive Regarding Transaction System 2082.
- Prepaid cards can have a maximum of Rs 10,000 per transaction and Rs 20,000 per day; debit cards have higher limits.
- Mobile banking allows transactions up to Rs 3 lakh daily, while internet banking permits Rs 20 lakh per day.
Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB), the central bank, has issued a new set of digital payment limits for mobile banking, internet banking, wallet transfer, etc. The bank issued Unified Directive Regarding Transaction System 2082, implementing new transaction limits for the retail value payment system (RVPS) and the large-value payment system (LVPS).
The regulatory bank has made new provisions regarding the transaction limit for mobile and internet banking, inter-wallet transfer, RMIS, etc. The bank has also reiterated another call for interoperability among digital wallets that will make wallet-to-wallet transfers feasible. Here’s all you need to know.
Table of contents
Electronic transaction limit in Nepal | Latest 2082
Prepaid and Debit card payment limits
Prepaid card users in Nepal can now transact Rs 10,000 per transaction and Rs 20,000 per day. Per month, a prepaid card can transact an amount of Rs 2 lakh. Similarly, debit cards now have a limit of Rs 20,000 per transaction, Rs 50,000 per day, and Rs 3 lakh per month. These are for prepaid and debit cards issued by banks and financial institutions. For those issued by non-banks, the limit for prepaid cards per day is Rs 5,000 and Rs 25,000 per month.
| Prepaid/Debit Card Transactions | Per Transaction | Per Day | Per Month |
| Prepaid Card (Banks & Financial Institutions) | Rs 10,000 | Rs 20,000 | Rs 2,00,000 |
| Debit Card (Banks & Financial Institutions) | Rs 20,000 | Rs 50,000 | Rs 3,00,000 |
| Prepaid Card (Non-Bank Issuers) | — | Rs 5,000 | Rs 25,000 |
Mobile banking and internet banking
Under the new directive for digital transactions, users can make transactions of Rs 3 lakh a day using mobile banking apps (also including QR). For Internet Banking/Connect IPS users, the new daily transaction limit is Rs 20 lakh. Mobile banking users have incrementally grown in recent years thanks to the easy accessibility of smartphones and the Internet. But still, internet banking has higher transaction limits for safety and other reasons.
| Mobile banking per day limit | Internet banking/Connect IPS per day limit | |
| Rs 3 lakh | Rs 20 lakh |
Inter-Bank Fund Transfer charges
The federal ban has set different limits on corporate pay and Inter-Bank Fund Transfer (IBFT) for business. These transactions are used for businesses, salary payments, and government payments. These are performed as per the operators’ Settlement Cycle.
ALSO READ: Top digital service providers/mobile wallets in Nepal
ATM transaction limit
NRB has readjusted the transaction limit on ATM transactions with its latest transaction directive 2082. Now, users can withdraw Rs 20,000 per transaction from an ATM. Likewise, per-day and per-month transactions have been set at Rs 50,000 per day and Rs 3 lakh per month. Previously, the limits were Rs 25,000, Rs 1 lakh, and Rs 4 lakh, per transaction, per day, and per month, respectively.
| ATM transaction limit | Previous Limit | New Limit (Directive 2082) |
| Per Transaction | Rs 25,000 | Rs 20,000 |
| Per Day | Rs 1,00,000 | Rs 50,000 |
| Per Month | Rs 4,00,000 | Rs 3,00,000 |
Wallet transfer limit per day and per month
As per the new rule, a user can transact a maximum amount of Rs 2 lakh per day and Rs 10 lakh a month from a bank to a digital wallet. Similarly, a wallet-to-bank transfer limit is Rs 2 lakh a day and Rs 10 lakh a month.
For wallet-to-wallet transactions, a per-day limit has been set at Rs 50 thousand a day. Inter-wallet transfer can’t exceed Rs 5 lakh a month. Also, keep in mind that one can only load money into the wallet up to 10 times a day. Likewise, a wallet account can have a maximum of Rs 50 thousand overnight balance. Wallet service providers must make arrangements for a scenario in which deposits exceed the amount in the user’s linked bank account.
| Wallet transfer limit | Per day | Per month |
| Bank to wallet | 2 lakh | Rs 10 lakh |
| Wallet to Bank | 2 lakh | Rs 10 lakh |
| Wallet to wallet | 50 thousand | Rs 5 lakh |
You may also want to read: FonePay and NIPL launch cross-border QR payment between Nepal and India
USSD, NFC
Similarly, NRB has set USSD (Unstructured Supplementary Service Data) transaction limit at Rs 5,000 per transaction and Rs 10,000 per day. For NFC (contactless payment) users, they can make transactions of Rs 5,000. NRB has also said that users won’t be charged a service fee if they lose or forget their username, password, transaction PIN, etc. These services will be free to all users.
| Payment mode | Per Transaction | Per Day |
| USSD | Rs 5,000 | Rs 10,000 |
| NFC | Rs 5,000 | – |
Check out: Digital Wallets Can Merge as NRB Clears The Way for PSPs and PSOs
Now with this new amendment of payment limit, we can say NRB has set a new foot for digital payments in Nepal. But more has to be done apart from just increasing the threshold limits. Do you think the new digital payment limits are enough for the users? Do share in the comments below.
