KATHMANDU: Nepal Rastra Bank is planning to raise the transaction limit for payment service providers (PSPs) under the Know Your Customer (KYC) compliance. The central bank has been drafting the unified directives based on the Payment and Settlement Bylaw, 2016, to regulate the online payment service providers at present.
PSPs have been registering clients on the basis of the mobile number and name of the account holder. The licensing policy for PSPs introduced some two-and-a-half months back sets a threshold of up to Rs 500 for one transaction and not exceeding Rs 5,000 in a month for an account holder. As per central bank officials, the threshold can be raised only under the full compliance of KYC for the account holders.
NRB has not yet decided the threshold of transaction under KYC compliance. As the PSPs have been providing services like airline tickets and others, upper limit of the transaction might be fixed accordingly. “The central bank cannot rely on only the name and mobile number for transactions above Rs 5,000 per month,” one of the central bank officials said.
As the central bank has extended deadline till tomorrow for the PSPs already in operation to submit applications under the provision of PSP licensing policy, those who do not apply for the licence will not be allowed to operate their services. A PSP that uses telecommunication means and networks to provide service must meet the paid-up capital requirement of Rs 10 million. Those who have been providing services through cards will need to meet the paid-up capital requirement of Rs 50 million by the end of this fiscal, as per the licensing policy.
Currently, firms like eSewa, iPay and Hello Paisa have been providing service as PSPs. As per the central bank, those who do not apply for licence by tomorrow will not be eligible to provide services. The Payment and Settlement Department of the central bank has been framing the policies to bring PSPs under the regulation and supervision of the central bank.
