![]() Tourism contributed 7.8 percent to Nepal's GDP in 2017, creating over a million jobs, according to the World Travel and Tourism Council. Tourism is a major revenue earner for impoverished Nepal, home to eight of the world's 14 peaks over 8,000 metres. Over 150,000 Chinese tourists visited Nepal last year, helping it reach a landmark of welcoming over a million tourists for the first time. Niroula said currently there is no record of how many transactions have taken place through the platforms as they are not recorded in Nepal.Īlipay, started by e-commerce giant Alibaba and owned by its affiliate Ant Financial, and WeChat Pay, built into Tencent's popular messaging service, have hundreds of millions of users between them and are China's dominant payment platforms. Action will be taken if anyone is found using the platforms," Niroula told AFP. "We have enforced a ban on Alipay and WeChat Pay because the country is losing foreign currency earnings through its usage. Laxmi Prapanna Niroula, spokesman for Nepal's central bank said that using the platforms in the country was illegal without the bank's authorisation. Nepal Rastra Bank issued a notice on Monday, banning the use of the Chinese digital payment platforms popularly used in hotels, restaurants and shops in tourist areas, especially in Chinese-run businesses. The ban came into force from Monday, he said.Nepal's central bank has banned popular Chinese digital wallets Alipay and WeChat, an official said Tuesday, fearing loss of foreign currency earnings from thousands of Chinese tourists that visit the country. ![]() "The government cannot tax such transactions nor check any crimes related to such unregistered payment systems," Niroula said. Niroula, the central bank spokesman, said these apps were using Nepal's internet connectivity but transactions were made in China and not reflected in the Himalayan nation's national accounts. Trump's order seeks to prohibit transactions with eight companies including Alipay, owned by Chinese billionaire Jack Ma the payment platform on the popular app WeChat and a Chinese messaging. China and India jostle to influence Nepal, a natural buffer between them. Nepal, home to Mount Everest and birthplace of Lord Buddha, received 1.1 million tourists in 2018 - of them 153,000 were Chinese visitors, the second largest number after Indian tourists who totalled 200,000. We have strengthened our measures to effectively prevent future cases where some users had wrongfully collected payments outside of China using domestic QR codes," it said. "We request that all users abide by the Alipay Collection QR Code Agreement when using our QR code payment services. "Alipay strictly complies with local rules and regulations in all markets where we operate, including overseas," Ant Financial said. "Overseas vendors should work with WeChat Pay's partners to enable WeChat Pay's collection services."Īlibaba's affiliate Ant Financial said Alipay's cross-border payment operations in Nepal were operating normally. "As for illegal payment collection overseas, we are constantly using technical means to crackdown and prevent this behaviour," it said. Tencent said WeChat Pay's overseas division "strictly complies" with all regulations in the countries it operated in. They are widely used by Chinese tourists for making payments to Chinese-run hotels, restaurants and other businesses in Nepal as the payment giants seek to expand overseas. WeChat Pay, operating on Tencent's messaging service, and e-commerce giant Alibaba's Alipay, are the two dominant platforms in mainland China. ![]() Under Nepali laws, anyone found guilty of embezzling foreign exchange can be sentenced to up to three years in jail. "Anyone using such platforms can be punished," he said. "Any digital transaction made with unregistered foreign payment system like WeChat Pay and AliPay is illegal," Niroula told Reuters. Laxmi Prapanna Niroula, a spokesman for the Nepal Rastra Bank, said the two digital payment platforms were not registered with the regulator in Nepal but were widely used by Chinese tourists for settling their payments with businesses. KATHMANDU - Nepal has banned popular Chinese digital payment apps WeChat Pay and AliPay saying payments from the unregistered systems were illegal and resulting in a loss of income to the Himalayan nation, a spokesman for the central bank said on Wednesday.
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