Photo/Shetuwang

May 22 (NBD) -- Chinese payment service provider WeChat Pay and Ant Financial on Tuesday urged users to comply with local laws when traveling abroad, following a ban by Nepal's central bank on the use of the digital payment services.

The Himalayan Times reported that Nepal Rastra Bank, the central bank of Nepal, issued a ban on Tuesday on these Chinese digital wallets in the country, citing foreign exchange and tax source reasons.

WeChat Pay stated that its cross-border payment service abides by the relevant laws and regulations of all countries where it has a presence and will crack down on and prevent illegal payment behaviors overseas.

Ant Financial, which runs Alipay, said it has taken measures to prevent its vast number of users going abroad from using bar codes that were only meant to be used within the Chinese borders.

Now both WeChat and Alipay have returned to normal operations in Nepal, according to their separate announcement.

Most Chinese tourists who visit Nepal carry these digital wallets of WeChat Pay and Alipay. These payment applications are also used by Chinese nationals who operate hotels, restaurants and other businesses in Nepal.

Nepal received 153,602 Chinese tourists in 2018, up 46.8 percent compared to 2017 and the South Asian country is planning to attract even more Chinese tourists. Tourist spending is the third largest source of foreign income for Nepal after worker remittance and merchandise exports.

Email: gaohan@nbd.com.cn