Technology is small but emerging in context on Nepal. Various aspects of the field are yet to be introduced or new here. Similarly, is the concept of digital currency and digital payment portal. Using digital currency in the form of e-payments can be beneficial for the users as well as the government. From contributing to National GDP, minimizing the illegal use of paper currency and reducing government’s expense on currency manufacturing to the ease of payments for normal citizens digital payment may come in handy.
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In the context of Nepal, digital payment system has just started to hit the market. But due to the absence of favourable policies and frameworks, it has not been well implemented. Still, there are a handful of digital payment portals helping to increase the use of digital currency. Let’s check out two of the best Nepal based payment gateways. eSewa and Khalti.
eSewa is the first payment gateway of Nepal started way back in 2009 whereas the latter is a newcomer in the field operating since a year ago. Developed by f1soft, eSewa is the most popular digital wallet in Nepal. Providing various services like payment of utilities, recharge mobile, payment of internet bills, e-banking, etc. eSewa also has a huge number of users. Offered by Sparrow Pay Pvt Ltd, Khalti also provides the similar services but it has yet to make a good impact on users.
Comparing these two digital wallets:
| eSewa | Khalti | |
|---|---|---|
| Launched | 2009 | 2017 |
| Developed by | F1 soft (Nepal) | Sparrow Pay Pvt Ltd (Nepal) |
| Registration | Free | Free |
| Partner Banks | 40+ | 40+ |
| Licensed By Nepal Rastra Bank | Yes | Yes |
| App Availability | Both in PlayStore and AppStore | Both in PlayStore and AppStore |
| Security | 128 bit VeriSign SSL certificate secured | SSL certificate secured |
| App Ranking | #1 Free Finance App (Play Store) #1 Finance App (App Store) | #3 Free Finance App (Play Store) #3 Finance App (App Store) |
| App Rating | 4.2 (Play Store) 3.4 (App Store) | 4.2 (Play Store) 3.9 (App Store) |
| Downloads | 500,000 + (Play Store) | 100,000 + (Play Store) |
| UI | Average | Better |
| Built in Scanning for payment | Not Available | Available |
| Market Share | Large | Small |
Both of these portals provide various similar services. You can pay your utility bills using any of thee apps. eSewa currently allows users to do their Khanepani payment for 18 stations ( Balkot, Banganga, Belchautara, Mangadh, Budhabare, Dadhikot, Damauli, Dhulikhel, Indrapur, Itahari, Jutpani, Kawasoti, Kushma, Lekhnath, Lubhoo, Pragatinagar, Prithvinaryan and Surkhet Khanepani) whereas Khalti is linked with only 13 (Attriya, Bardibas, Biratnagar, Birjung, Butwal, Charali, Dhangadi, Dhankuta, Dhulabari, Itahari, Kakarbhitta, Nepalgunj and Urlabari Khanepani). You can pay your electricity bills from 120 stations around Nepal using Khalti whereas the number is limited to 116 in eSewa. Both of them have mobile top-up functionality for Nepal’s most used service providers like NTC, Ncell, Smart Cell, UTL and Dish Home.
Paying your internet bills has also been made easy by these portals but Khalti is linked with only 6 ISPs (ADSL, Subisu, Worldlink, websurfer, Itel and vianet) whereas eSewa allows you to pay for 11 (Worldlink, vianet, Subisu, ClassicTech, Himalayan Online Service, netMax, Royalnet, Loop Networks, Vnet, WebSurfer and Itel) till date. You can use any of the apps to pay your TV bills for various TV services like Dish Home, Net Tv, Sim Tv, etc.
You can perform various banking transactions using these services as eSewa and Khalti both have 40+ partner banks. Esewa has the facility of insurance payment for 6 companies ( Himalayan General Insurance, NECO insurance Ltd, Premier Insurance, Prudential Insurance, Sagarmatha Insurance & Siddhartha Insurance). On the other hand, Khalti is linked only with NECO insurance. Providing Credit Card payment service Khalti has 26 different institutions in link whereas eSewa is with 14. Similarly, you can book movie tickets from more than 9 theatres using eSewa but even by providing 25% discount (BSR, Q’s, Midtown, Fcube) the number is limited to 6 in case of Khalti.
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When it comes to the ease of travelling using these wallets, you can book bus tickets, flights, taxis and other means like Tootle using eSewa. In contrast, collaborated with 6 airlines companies Khalti allows you to book flights only but you book hotel rooms for Pokhara and Kathmandu from the Khalti apps.
Since eSewa is on the market from the beginning, it obviously has more users. Being partner with dozens of companies, websites and banks, it occupies huge share in the field of digital payment. In opposition, Khalti is providing various offers and promotions to lure the users, which is yet to join hands with many renowned organizations. Though being a newcomer, it has various features correspond to eSewa and it is growing rapidly. But if the developers want to replace eSewa with Khalti as the default digital wallet of the country, there is still a lot to do.
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