Kathmandu, August 20
International visitors to Nepal can now use their existing Mastercard credit and debit cards to make digital payments at merchants accepting NepalPay and Fonepay QR codes nationwide.
Mastercard on Wednesday announced the launch of its Pay Local solution in Nepal in partnership with MOCO, a card-based digital wallet and unified QR payment platform.
Under the new service, international travellers can link eligible Mastercard cards to the MOCO Travel App and make payments directly through the app without having to carry cash, exchange currency or load money into prepaid accounts.
The MOCO Travel App is available on both the Apple App Store and Google Play Store.
The service can be used at hotels, restaurants, retail outlets, local markets and other tourism-related businesses accepting NepalPay and Fonepay QR payments.
“International travellers increasingly expect the simplicity, security and convenience of their everyday payment experiences to travel with them,” said Sandun Hapugoda, country manager for Sri Lanka, Maldives, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal at Mastercard.
“With Mastercard Pay Local available on MOCO, visitors can use the cards they already know and trust across the country’s extensive QR payment ecosystem,” he said.
Mastercard said the service will also allow local businesses to serve international customers through their existing QR infrastructure, potentially helping them benefit from Nepal’s growing tourism sector.
The launch expands Mastercard’s Pay Local presence in Asia, following similar deployments in China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Cambodia and Sri Lanka.
Pranaya Rajbhandari, chief executive officer of FOCUSONE Payment Solutions, said the partnership would make it easier for inbound tourists to access Nepal’s QR payment ecosystem.
“Through our travel app, inbound tourists can seamlessly access Nepal’s QR payment ecosystem, making it easier to explore the country while supporting local merchants,” Rajbhandari said.
