Kathmandu - Machhapuchchhre Bank Limited has signed an agreement with Nepal Clearing House Limited (NCHL) to enable payment processing of NEPALPAY Card through EFT Card Switch operated by NCHL. The agreement was signed and exchanged between Mr. Madhav Subedi, Chief Digital Banking Officer of Machhapuchchhre Bank and Mr. Neelesh Man Singh Pradhan, Chief Executive Officer of NCHL.

With this agreement, Machhapuchchhre Bank will be able to issue NEPALPAY Cards to its customers and acquire NEPALPAY and international cards under Discover network including Rupay. NCHL’s EFT switch is already integrated with National Card Switch (NPS-NCS) and hence the bank will be able to process NEPALPAY card transactions.

In the first phase, the bank will enable its 199+ ATMs and around 3000 POS for acquiring of NEPALPAY cards, followed by issuing of such cards to its customers.

NCHL has recently executed the commercial rollout of NEPALPAY Card as national card scheme through National Payment Switch (NPS) that works within Nepal and accepted globally through its international partner Discover® Network.

The NEPALPAY card, under the NPS, allows the participating banks & financial institutions, payment service providers (PSPs), and payment system operators (PSOs) to issue NEPALPAY Cards that are accepted at POS and ATM terminals across Nepal and globally. It also allows the international Discover Cards and Discover partnered cards to be accepted in Nepal.

NCHL’s EFT service is currently used by 10 member BFIs for processing of various international card schemes and with recent integration of EFT with NPS, it has been possible to process NEPALPAY Card as well. Other member BFIs of EFT are also preparing for the acquiring and issuance of NEPALPAY card.

NEPALPAY has already been subscribed by over 34 BFIs, which are currently at various stages of rollout. NEPALPAY card is already live in market with issuance from 2 commercial banks and acquiring by 3 commercial banks, which is expected to grow in coming days.