Kathmandu, August 14
As the government has introduced various policies to promote cashless economy, the number of debit and credit card users in the country has increased by 1 million in the past year.
The central bank says the number of debit card users has reached 6.28 million by the end of the fiscal year 2019/19 (mid-July 2019). The number was 5.1 million at the beginning of the year.
Nepal Rastra Bank informs that 6.07 million clients of the ‘A’ grade commercial banks use debit cards. Likewise, 182,624 clients of ‘B’ grade development banks and 29,526 clients of ‘C’ grade finance companies use the card.
On the other hand, the number of credit card users is also gradually increasing. As of mid-July, total 112,756 clients of banks and financial institutions have acquired credit cards. The number was around 97,000 one year ago and 64,000 two years ago.
The central bank hopes that the number of bank card users will continue to increase this year owing to the government’s policies to promote cashless transactions. The NRB has already introduced a provision of the 10 percent cashback on the VAT in the transactions made through cards.
Banks and financial institutions affiliated to the NRB operate around 28 million accounts. The number is almost equal to the total population as one person has multiple accounts. It is estimated that around 50 percent of Nepalis have bank accounts. 11
