Payment Processing

Any electronic payment, whether by card, QR, wallet or account transfer, passes through similar stages:

1. Initiation: the payer starts the payment at a POS, app, website or bank counter.
2. Authentication: the payer's identity is verified with a PIN, password, OTP or biometric.
3. Authorisation: the payer's bank or PSP checks funds or credit and approves or declines.
4. Clearing: the payment instructions are exchanged, validated and the amounts owed between institutions are calculated, often by a clearing house or switch.
5. Settlement: funds actually move between the institutions, usually across their accounts at the central bank through RTGS, and the payee's account is credited.
6. Reconciliation: each party matches its records, handling exceptions, reversals and chargebacks.

Participants include the payer, payee (merchant), issuing bank or PSP, acquiring bank, payment gateway, switch or network operator (PSO) and the settlement bank. In Nepal, these roles are licensed and overseen by NRB under the Payment and Settlement Act, 2075. Speed, cost, security and finality are the main measures of a payment processing system.

कार्ड, क्युआर, वालेट वा खाता रकमान्तर जुनसुकै विद्युतीय भुक्तानी यी चरणबाट जान्छ:

१. सुरुवात: POS, एप, वेबसाइट वा काउन्टरबाट। २. प्रमाणीकरण: PIN, पासवर्ड, OTP वा बायोमेट्रिक। ३. स्वीकृति: भुक्तानीकर्ताको बैंक/PSP ले रकम जाँची स्वीकृत वा अस्वीकृत। ४. क्लियरिङ: क्लियरिङ हाउस वा स्विचले निर्देशन आदानप्रदान गरी संस्थाबीच तिर्नुपर्ने रकम गणना। ५. फर्छ्यौट: प्रायः RTGS मार्फत केन्द्रीय बैंकका खाताबीच वास्तविक रकम स्थानान्तरण। ६. हिसाब मिलान: अभिलेख मिलान, फिर्ता र चार्जब्याक।

सहभागी: भुक्तानीकर्ता, व्यापारी, जारीकर्ता बैंक/PSP, प्राप्तकर्ता बैंक, पेमेन्ट गेटवे, स्विच/PSO र फर्छ्यौट बैंक।