Standard Chartered partners with NCHL for connectIPS & NPI; to take SCBN onboard for interbank transfers
Standard Chartered Bank Nepal Ltd. (SCBNL) partnered with Nepal Clearing House Ltd. (NCHL) to use connectIPS e-Payment System and National Payments Interface (NP), corresponding to which the project will be implemented in phases with the initial rollout of incoming payments to SCBNL. The membership agreement in this regard was executed in a virtual ceremony organized in the presence of senior representatives of SCBNL and NCHL. This partnership between SCBNL and NCHL is believed to facilitate the end customers and help extend the digital payments ecosystem in Nepal.
With the initial rollout, the customers of any of the member banks and financial institutions of connectIPS (either from its app or web application or NPI or BFI’s mobile app/ internet banking) are able to transfer funds directly to any of the accounts held at SCBNL. This will enable SCBNL customers to receive funds and will also allow SCBNL to acquire its merchants/ creditors on connectIPS.
In the second phase, NPI services will be extended to SCBNL’s channels, including its S2B and mobile banking, whereby its customers will be able to do outgoing transfers to other BFIs. In the later phase, SCBNL will allow its customers to link their bank account to connectIPS, such that outgoing payments could be done directly from connectIPS.
connectIPS and NPI as a platform are operated by NCHL as a real-time retail payment system in Nepal, which is currently being used by over 53 BFIs for fund transfer and service payments initiated from its own channels (including the mobile app, connectips.com, and payment gateway) or from alternate channels including mobile/ internet banking of the BFIs.
Standard Chartered Bank Nepal Limited is the only international bank currently in operation in Nepal since 1987. It is providing domestic and international banking & financial services to customers through its network of 15 branches, 26 ATMs across the country, and more than 531 local staff. It has also been providing world-class alternate digital channels of mobile banking, internet banking, and S2B corporate channels to the customers.
