Let’s roll back to 2021. We hear news about a government-backed Digital Wallet arriving with the highest paid-up capital and unique features. Which was the ability to use your SIM’s balance as the wallet balance and an offline USSD mode. Well, it did arrive but faced tons of backlash at the launch date. It is still live on both Playstore and Appstore but how’s it in the current phase? In this article, I’ll share the story of Namaste Pay from the beginning to the ongoing.
Namaste Pay in 2024:
The initial news was promising!
Back to the scene of 2021, eSewa, and Khalti had already tightened their presence while IME Pay was on the way to grab its spot. In the meantime, Namaste Pay was planned to be the government’s triumph card in the growing digital wallet market. After all, it was backed up by Nepal Telecom (NTC) and Rastriya Banijya Bank (RBB) with the highest paid-up capital ever for an e-wallet— 40 crore Nepali rupees! That’s a huge amount for sure as eSewa, the leading wallet has 10 crore Nepali rupees as paid-up capital. So, it carried a huge potential to compete in the market.
Plus, the integration of SIM’s balance into the wallet balance was also in the news. Well, Namaste Pay was supposed to launch alongside Nagarik App on the occasion of National ICT Day 2021 but it got delayed due to technical issues.
The Half-baked (Terrible) Launch
Finally, on September 2021, Nepal Digital Payments Company Limited (NPDC) finally unveiled a Beta version of the app on September 14, 2021, for Android devices only. But… it was a disappointing launch. I remember trying to sign up for the wallet from my Redmi K20 Pro booting on Android 11 but to no avail. This was definitely an unappealing experience for a FinTech-loving guy like me. And turned out, that the same issue was prevailing for most devices in the market. All I could do was register my name, date of birth, gender, ID type, and ID number through the offline *500# USSD code, devoid of using the app.
The most anticipated wallet for that time was not compatible with Android 11 devices while some Android 10 phones were able to sign up. But for them as well, the experience was extremely buggy. On top of that, the frequent app crashes, not being able to verify KYC and whatnot! To sum up, the launch of the Beta version was a terrible failure for such an ambitious project backed up by the government. Plus, NRB’s policy also didn’t allow merging the SIM balance and Wallet balance. This turn-off at the launch was enough for many customers to not try this app again.
Did the situation get better?
As a patient user, I was keen to give the app a second try. The signup issues were fixed on the September 14, 2021, update finally. And yeah, I was finally able to sign up via the app. But, the UI experience and everything felt average to me. Note the word “Average”, because it was not terrible by any means.
There were not enough bank options to link and loading money was a hassle too. I recall you could only do that with a Rashtriya Banijya Bank (RBB) account, Kamana Bikash Back, and other two banks which my faint memory couldn’t remember now. But I can recall, I did load funds via my RBB account. Likewise, the offline USSD mode was at least working very fine on my NTC SIM. Do note, that it doesn’t support Ncell SIM. I could just dial *500#, put in my PIN, and access a completely offline wallet service. It allowed me to recharge my own number, transfer my balance, and so on. Overall, this very feature was pretty handy when I was outside without any internet to top up my balance.
The app finally breathed fresh air on 21 January 2022 with a major update, revamping its UI/UX, and mainly making you able to load money from 40 plus banks and financial institutions, using ConnectIPS. It was a major turning point for Namaste Pay, bidding farewell to the old buggy UI. But the scars of a failed launch were already deep enough to pull off new users.
It Did Try!
After the 21st Jan update, the government-backed digital wallet was confident enough to allure new users, launching offers and new features. For example, Festive Offers, the option to buy NTC and Ncell Data packs, integrating Smart QR service, Spilt Bills feature, Flight tickets buying options, and such in the year 2022.
It continued launching offers and features in 2023 as well. The most notable addition was joining the FonePay ecosystem for QR payments in June 2023, a much-needed feature as FonePay QRs technically rule over the digital payments scene in Nepal. It followed with the Loyalty Points System in August. It also managed to bag the “Most Innovative Digital Wallet Deployment Award” in November 2023. But was that enough for the competition? It certainly was not.
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Namaste Pay in 2024
And it’s almost 2025 now but let’s talk about my experience of using Namaste Pay in 2024. After not using it for almost 9 months due to PIN issues, I finally decided to give it a go again in December. It was after my PIN issues got resolved pretty quickly after sending a text message to their WhatsApp/Viber number.
The app looks pretty neat and clean now. You get all the major payment options like electricity, drinking water, flight tickets, internet, landline, TV, remittance, and such. Loading funds is also pretty easy, you can do it in four different ways: e-banking. mobile banking, connect IPS and cards. There is a broken marketplace section as well. As far as I can recall, it was working somewhere in 2023. Meanwhile, the loyalty points is still functional.
And recharging your any number gets you 2% cash back. Overall, it seems a very decent digital wallet to use but the bank linking option is where it frowned me. It’s 2025 almost and Namaste Pay has only five banks to link: Global IME Bank, Nepal Bank, Laxmi Sunrise Bank, Jyoti Bikash Bank, and Rastriya Banijya Bank. This is enough to harness the reluctance for a new user to try it, let alone the heavy competition, which I’ll talk about in the following section.
The Digital Wallet Market is too Competitive!
Of course, the terrible half-baked launch was already enough for its name to be forgotten by most. In the current scene, the reason why Namaste Pay has not succeeded is the already competitive digital wallet scene. I don’t possess the exact data about the total number of Namaste Pay users but it is known for all that eSewa, Khalti, and IME Pay are on the top charts for years now.
Despite the app being fine now, it is very hard for Namaste Pay to compete against the aforementioned top players. This fact is also backed up by the presence of dozens of other digital wallets in the market. As of Kartik 2081 B.S., there are 26 Payment Service Providers (PSPs) in the scene. Which is a lot for a small country like Nepal. Most users are going to stick with one or two wallets/mobile banking apps. And this creates even more reluctance for a new user to try Namaste Pay in 2024.
A FinTech enthusiast like me wouldn’t bother trying new payment apps but it’s surely not a piece of cake for others. Registering, getting the KYC verified and such are hassles for most people. Plus as I have already mentioned, most of them are hooked up with eSewa, Khalti, or IME Pay already.
Should you try Namaste Pay in 2024/25?
Okay so well, if I have to recommend Namaste Pay in 2024/25 to a new user, I’d say it’s 50-50. I mean, the app works very fine with good features but the bank linking option is very scarce for a 2024/25 standard. I hope, Namaste Pay will bring in more soon.
The one major prospect I see in this platform is the offline USSD mode. Which is its key USP by the now. In case you don’t know, Nepal Rashtra Bank (NRB) has already published a study report on the USSD-based Payment Systems for Nepal in October 2024. It has mentioned a case study on Namaste Pay’s USSD mode too. In the conclusion part, NRB is hinting towards not mandating every digital wallet to adopt this feature.
So, as a sole wallet with a USSD feature, it’s a good chance for Namaste Pay to enhance and improve it. After all, the ability to use a digital wallet offline and even via a keypad phone is fascinating anyway. But, I’d like to aware you that the offline USSD code is only supported in NTC SIM.
I still believe Namaste Pay can be fostered as it has the highest paid-up capital and backup of big government entities like RBB and NTC. But politics play a major role too, so, if everything goes sound in the management, operational and direction part, it might compete well against others! If you care to give it a go, you can download the app here: (Android) and (iOS).
