Payment gateway in Nepal (2026): the options, the setup and the costs

If your customers ask “how do I pay?” in Messenger, then send a screenshot of a transfer, you already run a payment gateway. You’re it. You check every screenshot, match it to an order and hope nobody edited it.

This guide covers what a Nepali business can use instead: eSewa, Khalti, Fonepay and NEPALPAY QR, and the bank card gateways that foreign customers need. You’ll see what each asks for and what it costs, quoted from each provider’s own page and checked on 24 October 2026. You’ll also see how many Kathmandu business websites actually take payment, from a check we ran on 108 of them. If you’d rather have it built for you, our web design team in Nepal puts eSewa, Khalti and Fonepay QR into the sites we build.

What payment gateways can a Nepali business use?

There are four kinds, and many businesses need two of them. Wallets and bank QR cover Nepali customers. A bank card gateway covers customers abroad.

Two details matter more than they look. Khalti’s checkout isn’t only its wallet: it also takes mobile banking, e-banking and ConnectIPS, so one Khalti connection reaches people who’ve never opened Khalti. And Fonepay has an online version too: Checkout by Fonepay, which lets customers approve a payment in their own banking app or wallet, with no extra fee for them.

What’s the best payment gateway in Nepal?

The best one is the one your customers already have on their phone. That’s a question about who buys from you, not about which provider is biggest.

To be fair to the “just pick the biggest wallet” view: if all your buyers are in Nepal, one wallet plus a QR code covers most of them, and it’s simple. Here’s where it breaks. Every option above reaches a different group, and a customer who can’t pay the way they want either messages you or leaves.

So match it to your buyers:

• Mostly Nepali buyers (online shops, consultancies, clinics, local training): a QR code from your bank, plus eSewa or Khalti at checkout. Fonepay and NEPALPAY QR work from bank apps, so they reach people without either wallet.
• Foreign buyers (trekking, tours, hotels, software sold abroad): a bank card gateway that accepts international Visa and Mastercard. Add NEPALPAY QR with international acceptance if many of your guests use Alipay+ wallets.
• Both: both. A trekking company with a Kathmandu office takes deposits by card from abroad and pays its local suppliers by QR.

How many Kathmandu business websites take payment online?

Hardly any. On 24 October 2026 we read the websites of 108 Kathmandu businesses in five trades. 10 named any way to pay online (9.3%). Only 4 named eSewa, Khalti or Fonepay.

Two things stand out. Travel sites lead because their customers are abroad, and every one of them chose cards, not wallets. And among the online shops, 16 of 19 named no payment method at all where we looked.

Method and limits. The sites are the sample from our study of Kathmandu businesses on Google: own websites listed on Google Maps, 25 per trade, drawn at random. For each one we read the home page and up to three pages it links to about payment, checkout or booking. A script searched the text, image names and alt text, and payment scripts. Then we checked every match by hand, and counted a method only when the business offers it to its own customers. Khalti named as a client, or a line in trekking advice saying some shops take credit cards, didn’t count. 16 sites didn’t load. Anything a site shows only after its scripts run, or only at checkout, wasn’t seen, so these numbers are a floor. Bank transfer and cash on delivery aren’t counted as online.

What documents do eSewa and Khalti ask for?

Registration papers, PAN or VAT, and a recent tax clearance, for most businesses. The exact list depends on how your business is registered.

eSewa’s merchant page (11 August 2026) asks a private limited company for:

• certificate of incorporation (or DoI registration)
• PAN or VAT certificate
• MOA and AOA
• a board minute that authorises the account and who signs
• citizenship copies of the signatories
• the latest tax clearance certificate
• a completed KYM form, and an industry or business licence if one applies

A sole proprietor with NPR 1 lakh or more in transactions a year needs a business registration certificate, PAN or VAT certificate, citizenship copy and the latest tax clearance. Below NPR 1 lakh, eSewa accepts a letter from the ward office or local authority confirming the business, with a citizenship copy and a personal PAN. Partnerships, NGOs and government offices have their own lists on the same page.

Khalti asks for a company registration certificate, PAN or VAT certificate, latest tax clearance and your logo. It says merchants must be registered with an institution the Government of Nepal recognises. One useful detail: you can connect and test Khalti before your papers are approved, but you can’t withdraw the money until they are, and you’ll sign an agreement with Khalti first.

How do you add a payment gateway to your website?

Six steps, in this order. Payment gateway integration in Nepal works the same way whichever provider you pick, and nothing goes live without the papers, so start those first.

1. Decide who pays you. Nepali buyers, foreign buyers or both. That decides whether you need wallets and QR, a card gateway or both.
2. Gather the papers listed above, for each provider you’ll use.
3. Apply. eSewa through its merchant registration. Khalti through its merchant sign-up (its site points you to the app). Fonepay QR, NEPALPAY QR and card gateways through your bank.
4. Connect it to your website. A WordPress shop on WooCommerce can use Khalti’s own plugin. Any other site needs a developer to connect the provider’s API, using its documentation and test account.
5. Test with real money. Pay a small amount yourself, then check it arrives in your bank account, not just in a dashboard.
6. Show the options where the price is. In our check, most sites that take payment don’t say so. Put the logos next to the price and on the booking or checkout page, so customers know before they message you.

Can foreign customers pay you online?

Yes. An international payment gateway in Nepal comes from a Nepali bank, not from Stripe or a foreign company. Stripe’s list of supported countries doesn’t include Nepal, so a business registered here can’t open a Stripe account.

What does work:

• A bank card gateway. For example, NMB Bank’s gateway, built with Nepal Clearing House and launched in December 2025, accepts Visa and Mastercard “issued by any domestic or international bank” and uses 3D Secure checks against fraud. Ask your own bank whether it offers one.
• NEPALPAY QR with international acceptance. Nepal Clearing House says users of 13 Alipay+ partner wallets, including Alipay, KakaoPay, Naver Pay, GCash and TrueMoney, can scan and pay NEPALPAY QR at Nepali merchants. Your bank has to turn international acceptance on.

For a trekking or tour company, the card gateway is the one that matters. A guest in Sydney pays a deposit with the card in their pocket, and you don’t wait for a wire transfer. (If you sell treks abroad, our guide on SEO for travel agencies in Nepal covers how those guests find you first.)

Going the other way, paying foreign companies from Nepal, is a different problem with different rules. That’s in our dollar card guide.

How much does a payment gateway cost in Nepal?

Most providers don’t publish a rate, so you’ll get a quote. Here’s what they do publish:

• Fonepay: QR payments at merchant outlets are listed as free for any amount, from Shrawan 01, 2082 (17 July 2025). Its fees are charged to member banks, so ask your bank what it charges you.
• Checkout by Fonepay: no extra fee for the customer.
• Khalti: a one-time API charge plus a fee on each transaction, set per business. No annual maintenance fee, and no charge to move money to your bank.
• eSewa and bank card gateways: no published fees. Ask before you sign.

Grab a calculator for the quote you get. Say a provider charges 2% a transaction (an example; your rate will differ):

• A Rs 4,000 order costs Rs 80 to collect.
• 100 such orders a month cost Rs 8,000.
• Compare that with the time someone spends checking screenshots for those 100 orders, and with the orders lost by customers who wanted to pay right then.

Ask each provider three things: the fee per transaction, how many days until money reaches your bank, and any one-time setup charge. Those three numbers make the quotes comparable.

The short version

• Nepali buyers pay with wallets and bank QR: eSewa or Khalti, plus Fonepay or NEPALPAY QR from your bank.
• Foreign buyers pay with cards through a Nepali bank’s gateway. Stripe doesn’t list Nepal.
• Most businesses need papers: registration, PAN or VAT, and tax clearance. eSewa has a lighter route for very small sole proprietors.
• Only 10 of 108 Kathmandu business websites we read named a way to pay online, so showing yours is an easy edge.

Want it done for you? Our web design team in Nepal builds eSewa, Khalti and Fonepay QR into your site. Or take the free 2-minute business test to see where sales slip away first.