Local Payment Methods in South Asia: A Merchant Planning Guide

Header image: conceptual illustration.

Customers in South Asia often prefer local methods — mobile wallets and instant bank systems — over international cards. For a merchant entering these markets, choosing which methods to support first is a planning decision with technical, operational and compliance sides. This overview covers the main method types in four countries and a way to prioritise. It is general merchant education: whether any method can be used for a particular business type depends on the provider's own policy and local rules.

Bangladesh

• Mobile financial services: bKash, Nagad and others. Official sources: bKash developer portal, Nagad.
• Bank transfers: national rails such as BEFTN and NPSB (local bank transfers guide).
• Regulator: Bangladesh Bank.

India

• UPI: the real-time system operated by NPCI (NPCI UPI overview); see our UPI merchant guide.
• IMPS, NEFT, RTGS: bank transfer systems.
• Regulator: Reserve Bank of India.

Pakistan

• Mobile wallets: JazzCash and Easypaisa (official JazzCash site, Easypaisa).
• Raast: Pakistan's national instant payment system (SBP Raast).

Nepal

• Wallets: eSewa and Khalti (eSewa developer docs, Khalti docs).
• Regulator: Nepal Rastra Bank.

How to prioritise

1. Customer evidence. Ask customers, check failed-checkout feedback, and look at which methods competitors in your category show.
2. Provider coverage. Which methods can your provider actually offer for your business type, for both collections and payouts?
3. Operational fit. Settlement times, refund support, reporting quality.
4. Cost. Effective cost per successful payment, not headline fees.
5. Effort. One aggregator integration versus several direct integrations.

Planning worksheet

For each country list: methods customers request; provider availability (collect/payout); settlement schedule; refund support; integration route; launch phase (1, 2 or later).

Hypothetical rollout

*Invented.* A software company launches with one wallet per country in phase 1, measures checkout completion, then adds bank transfer options in phase 2 where customers asked for higher limits.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need a local entity in each country?

It depends on the provider and the method. Ask during onboarding.

Is one global gateway enough?

Sometimes, if it covers the local methods you need. Verify method by method.

See also our countries page and payment infrastructure overview.

Sources

• bKash Developer Portal: https://developer.bka.sh/
• Nagad: https://nagad.com.bd/
• Bangladesh Bank: https://www.bb.org.bd/
• NPCI UPI product overview: https://www.npci.org.in/what-we-do/upi/product-overview
• Reserve Bank of India: https://www.rbi.org.in/
• JazzCash: https://www.jazzcash.com.pk/
• Easypaisa: https://easypaisa.com.pk/
• SBP Raast: https://www.sbp.org.pk/raast
• eSewa Developer: https://developer.esewa.com.np/
• Khalti Docs: https://docs.khalti.com/
• Nepal Rastra Bank: https://www.nrb.org.np/