Namaste Pay: both an online and offline mobile wallet

Nepal Telecom has launched its digital payment service 

Namaste Pay, at a program in the capital on September 14, 2021. One of the great features of the Digital payment mobile money service is the ability to perform offline transfers, payments that is, without the use of the internet.

Namaste Pay is the mobile money service set up by Nepal Telecom and Rastriya Banijya Bank (RBB) with an authorized capital of Rs. 1 billion. This government-run digital payment app has become the mobile wallet with the largest paid-up capital of Rs. 400 million.  

Namaste Pay: both an online and offline mobile wallet 

Namaste Pay is not only the first government-run payment service provider (PSP), but also, the first offline mobile wallet. It means the user need not have an internet connection to make digital payments. 

Up until now, there were only online digital payment platforms for the users to make transactions. It required smartphones and an internet connection. With the use of Namaste Pay, NT users with feature phones (non-smartphones) can also make offline transactions anytime and anyplace. 

The payment system will use the mobile number as a digital wallet. The ability to use mobile balance funds to pay bills like electricity bills, water bills, etc, will not come now due to the regulations’ restrictions.

So there will be two separate accounts for the mobile number, one for Mobile balance and another for Namaste pay wallet. This feature helps to skip the taxes included in the service charges. Such an option makes mobile money service cheaper and easier.  

For payment, the company also uses the USSD channel which has a fast response. Then, by typing the USSD code, the users can make offline transactions. This option is much secure than SMS too. It will also help non-smartphone users and digitally illiterate people to access such payments.

For online users, a mobile wallet app will be available. Rashtriya Banijya Bank will act as a settlement bank for payment services. As per the info, all mobile numbers in Nepal can do the payment from Namastepay using both online and offline means.

Largest paid-up capital of Rs. 400 million 

The Nepal Digital Payment Company is so far the largest in terms of paid-up capital. Among the 27 PSPs approved by Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB), Namaste Pay has the largest paid-up capital. 

According to the Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA) provision, the digital payment companies should make a paid-up capital of at least Rs. 10 million. As per the details released by Nepal Rastra Bank, the paid-up capital of Namaste Pay is Rs. 400 million. 

After Namaste Pay, the companies with the highest paid-up capital are IME Pay and Prabhu Pay. Their paid-up capital is Rs 100 million. Similarly, eSewa has a paid-up capital of Rs. 50 million.

How to register your mobile number for Namaste Pay?

Here is the process to register your mobile number for the digital payment service offline.

> Dial *500#, Press 1 to go further.

> Enter First name, Last name, Date of birth, Gender, ID type and number.

> Confirm the entered data.

> You will get a PIN code that you will need to access the payment service.

> Once you enter again from *500#, you will be asked to change the PIN code of your own.

How to use Namaste Pay service?

You can use Namaste pay service online via app and offline through USSD code. Once you are registered for the service, you can also access from either way. All you need is the PIN code.

To access the payment service online, you need to

> Download and Install the Mobile app from play store.

> Enter your number and PIN code.

> For this first time, you may need to enter the OTP.

> Then you will login to the Namaste pay app.

> Find different payment services within the app

To access the payment service offline, you need to

> Dial *500# and Enter the PIN code

> Then you can get info on your account, transfer money, recharge or load balance from the menu itself.

> You can transfer to another Namaste pay wallet or unregistered numbers or even request money

Namaste Pay Features

For now, Namaste Pay digital payment platform has limited features, as with all wallets have in the earlier phase. However, Nepal Digital Payment Company is known to add more features with time.

> Android app for Mobile wallet

> USSD code (*500#) for Offline payment

> Mobile recharge and bill payment

> Internet service payment

> Electricity bill payment

> Water (Khanepani) bill payment

> 10 banks integrated to load balance in Namaste pay

> QR code based payments