3rd May 2021, Kathmandu
Namaste Pay is the mobile money service set up by Nepal Telecom in collaboration with Rastriya Banijya Bank (RBB) with an authorized capital of Rs. 1 billion. Namaste Pay is the first offline mobile wallet and the first government-run payment service provider (PSP). It means the user need not have an internet connection to make digital payments.
Nepal Telecom has started the preliminary test of its digital payment service:’Namaste Pay’ on Baisakh 19, 2078. On the occasion of National ICT Day, the initiation was announced by honorable PrimeMinister KP Sharma Oli through a virtual program.
Till now, there were only online digital payment platforms for transactions. Namaste Pay, NT users with feature phones can enjoy offline transactions wherever and whenever. The payment system will use the mobile number as a digital wallet. The mobile balance can be used as a transaction fund to pay bills like electricity bills, water bills, etc.
Minister for Communications and Information Technology Parbat Gurung informed that the app could not be launched today due to technical reasons. As per some sources, Namaste Pay is going to launch on May 17, 2021, marking World Telecommunication and Information Society Day (aka ITU day).