New Delhi — Senior officials and industry leaders from India and Nepal have called for swifter policy coordination and fresh regulatory backing to accelerate cross-border digital payments at the “India-Nepal Fintech Summit 2025”, hosted by the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PHDCCI) in the capital on Monday.

Organised under the aegis of PHDCCI’s India-Nepal Centre in association with Visa Inc and the Banking, Finance and Insurance Institute of Nepal (BFIN), the day-long meeting drew more than 150 delegates, including representatives of the Indian Ministry of External Affairs, Nepal’s embassy, payment-service providers and start-ups.

Addressing the inaugural session, Nepal’s ambassador to India, Dr Shankar Prasad Sharma, hailed the “impressive progress” his country has made in mobile banking but warned that “memoranda of understanding must now give way to implementation”. Faster inter-ministerial coordination and “better systems for digital service exports, taxation and international payments” were needed, he said.

India’s additional secretary (North) in the foreign ministry, Munu Mahawar, described the bilateral relationship as “rooted in history, culture and a unique treaty framework”. With Nepal enjoying special access to the Indian market, “our partnership will continue to flourish”, he told the gathering.

Industry speakers urged practical support for fledgling firms. Anand Jha, Visa’s head of government engagement for South Asia, said Nepal possessed “a huge untapped market” for digital payments but start-ups required “the right mentor and direction, not rocket science”. His colleague Vaibhav Taranekar added that fintech had become “an integral part of the financial ecosystem” and its success lay in collaboration that empowered small merchants.

The summit was chaired by Manjeev Singh Puri, former Indian ambassador to Kathmandu and head of the PHDCCI centre, and moderated by Atul K Thakur, its secretary. Panellists from India’s Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, Nepal’s Fonepay and the World Association of Investment Promotion Agencies examined ways to widen the 2023 linkage between India’s Unified Payments Interface and Nepal’s National Payments Interface.

Participants noted that the tie-up had already eased person-to-person remittances and merchant payments but cautioned that Nepal still lacked a comprehensive regulatory framework and investor network. Recommendations from the summit include:

*Extending real-time electronic payments to small exporters;

*Sharing India’s experience in start-up incubation and gender-inclusive finance;

*Creating joint sandboxes for investment-banking technology; and

*Setting up a standing India-Nepal working group to monitor progress.
A policy brief capturing the proposals will be sent to both governments next month, PHDCCI said. If implemented, delegates agreed, the measures could smooth payment systems, spur financial inclusion and deepen economic integration between the Himalayan neighbours.