PayPal on Wednesday announced it would begin supporting cryptocurrencies for the first time, allowing any PayPal account holder to store, buy, and sell popular virtual currencies starting later this year. The announcement makes PayPal arguably the most significant company in the financial tech sector to adopt support for virtual currencies.

PayPal competitor Square launched support for bitcoin back in 2018 through its Cash app (Square also purchased $50 million worth of bitcoin earlier this month), but PayPal is going further in supporting bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, and Litecoin. PayPal also plans to extend support to its money-sending subsidiary Venmo and international markets starting early next year. For now, PayPal plans to launch digital currency support for US users in the coming weeks.

The move makes PayPal a major digital wallet as well as a cryptocurrency exchange, and the result could substantially increase the potential adoption of cryptocurrencies among everyday users and online merchants. According to Bloomberg, PayPal has more than 346 million active accounts, of which 26 million are merchants.

“The shift to digital forms of currencies is inevitable, bringing with it clear advantages in terms of financial inclusion and access; efficiency, speed and resilience of the payments system; and the ability for governments to disburse funds to citizens quickly,” PayPal CEO Dan Schulman said in a statement. “Our global reach, digital payments expertise, two-sided network, and rigorous security and compliance controls provide us with the opportunity, and the responsibility, to help facilitate the understanding, redemption, and interoperability of these new instruments of exchange.”

Schulman says PayPal is “eager to work with central banks and regulators around the world” in supporting cryptocurrency. Reuters reports transactions on PayPal’s platform will be settled using traditional fiat currency, so merchants won’t need to transfer digital coins into dollars following a transaction. But PayPal for now is restricting users to purchasing cryptocurrencies on its own platform, and existing digital coin owners can’t transfer the contents of other digital wallets over to PayPal’s.

Source: Theverge

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The electronic transaction is found have been increasing as a result of the lockdown imposed by the government to stem the spread of the Coronavirus. As of the second week of the lockdown, e-transaction worth Rs. 35.6 billion has been recorded, according to Nepal Clearing House Limited. The transaction was worth Rs. 18.6 billion in the first week of the lockdown. The NCHL has been using five national payment systems including the NHCL-ECC, NCHL-IPS, Connect IPS, Connect RTGS and NPI. Almost all the banks including the central bank, Nepal Rastra Bank are affiliated to the system.

Among the systems, electronic cheque clearing (NCHL-ECC) and Inter-banking payment system (NCHL-IPS) will provide clearing until the situation turns normal. Likewise, the NHCL-ECC clears the cheque collected by 1:30 every day and the NCHL-IPL of the payment order received until 1:00 pm, and the clearance is done on the same day. Those received after the deadline are cleared the next day.

The NCHL's connect IPS provides mobile and e-banking business and transaction round-the-clock through its mobile application and website and that of the particular banks. 

E-wallets mostly used to top-up mobiles, cable and internet during the Coronavirus lockdown

A countrywide lockdown to stop the spread of the coronavirus, e-wallets have become the best option for people to top-up the balance in their mobile phones. As per service providers, use of digital wallets has increased significantly. People are unable to go outside to purchase recharge cards and even the related Telecom providers are unable to supply recharge cards in the market. Hence, the digital wallet has become the best option for mobile top-up.

Likewise, people are also using the digital wallet for payment of cable television and internet bills. Moreover, e-wallets service providers creating awareness among people regarding the significance of digital wallet to go cashless. Banks and other government and private sector offices are all encouraging online payment to maintain social distance.

Meanwhile, some internet service providers have also provided internet service even after the subscription time has expired as people are unable to go outside to pay bills.

The major part of the digital transaction has been somehow affected due to the lockdown. Yet, people are becoming more aware, which could be beneficial in the coming days. The increasing threat of coronavirus, the Nepal Government has also recommended citizens to go cashless and use digital platforms for financial transactions.

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Nepal’s leading online shopping marketplace, Daraz and the global leader in digital payments technology, Visa, have entered into a partnership to drive forward online card payments in Nepal. Since the acquisition by Alibaba in 2018, Daraz’s payments ecosystem has grown to accommodate a range of electronic payment solutions to give customers greater latitude and ease-of-use when shopping online, leveraging Alibaba’s vast technology and experience. 

To start off this new partnership, Daraz and Visa are offering Visa card holders a 15% discount on prepayments till September 30, 2020. Customers can choose anything amongst 450,000 products ranging from electronics, groceries, lifestyle to fashion sold by more than 5,000 sellers on Daraz. Visa and Daraz users can enjoy a maximum discount of Rs. 500 by pre-paying only via a Visa Card that they have saved on the Daraz app. The discount offer can be used only once and includes all current Visa Credit, Debit and Prepaid Cards issued in Nepal.

“A collective effort is necessary in order to drive the development of the online card payment ecosystem in Nepal, and so, we are thrilled to collaborate with Visa. And with this initial offer, we want to provide our customers an added benefit for choosing the already more convenient and safe method of making online payments,” said Lino Ahlering, MD, Daraz Nepal. 

Shailesh Paul, Head of Merchant Sales and Acquiring and Cybersource, Visa said, “Digital payments and online shopping have become crucial in recent times, given the need for social distancing and less-touch. We are delighted to partner with a leading e-commerce player like Daraz to provide their shoppers with the convenience of paying online through a safe, secure medium. Our relationship with Daraz in multiple South Asian markets is proof of how established players can and should come together to enable and enhance shopping experiences for consumers.”

The demand for online shopping is growing rapidly in Nepal with a steady rate of adoption for online payments. With this partnership, Daraz and Visa jointly wish to ensure authentic, secured and hassle-free online shopping experience for the customers in the coming days.
 

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