Khalti in Nepal (2026): How to Open an Account, Verify KYC, Load Money, Limits and Charges
Updated 28 October 2026. Based on Khalti’s own pages (charges updated 10 July 2026), Nepal Rastra Bank and news reports. Where Khalti’s pages disagree with each other, we say so.
Short answer: Khalti is a digital wallet licensed by Nepal Rastra Bank and run by IME Khalti Ltd, known as Khalti by IME since it merged with IME Pay in July 2025. You sign up in the app with a Nepali mobile number and verify KYC with your citizenship, licence or passport (1 to 2 days). Loading from mobile banking or e-banking is free, while card loads cost 3% (domestic) or 5% (international). Verified users can move up to Rs 2 lakh a day between bank and wallet and send up to Rs 50,000 a day to other wallets.
What is Khalti?
Khalti launched on 26 January 2017 and received its payment service provider (PSP) licence from Nepal Rastra Bank in April 2019. Today it calls itself a mobile wallet, payment gateway and service provider: you can pay bills, recharge phones, buy flight and movie tickets, pay at shops by QR and send money to banks and other wallets.
Khalti and IME Pay merged
| Date | What happened |
|---|---|
| February 2025 | IME Pay and Khalti signed a merger agreement. |
| June 2025 | Nepal Rastra Bank approved the merger, the first between two digital wallets in Nepal. |
| 17 July 2025 | The joint app went live as Khalti by IME, run by IME Khalti Ltd. |
| Kartik 30, 2082 (Nov 2025) | The old IME Pay app was set to close; IME Pay users moved to Khalti after giving consent. |
| November 2025 | Praveen Regmi was appointed CEO of IME Khalti. |
Khalti’s website now claims more than 10 million users and 200,000 merchants. Nepal Rastra Bank’s latest list of licensed payment companies shows IME Khalti Ltd as a PSP for the Khalti wallet.
How to open a Khalti account and verify KYC
Only people living in Nepal can sign up, with a Nepali mobile number. Khalti’s help page says sign-up on the website is disabled, so use the Android or iPhone app.
- Documents: one of citizenship, driving licence or passport (front and back), a passport-size photo and a clear photo of your face.
- Most common reason for rejection: an invalid or unclear ID document; upload problems usually mean the files were not resized to Khalti’s size rules.
- Without KYC: Khalti’s limits page says you must complete KYC before making transactions. An older help page mentions a Rs 5,000 limit for unverified users.
- KYC help: toll-free 1660-01-5-8888, phone 01-5970017 or support@khalti.com.
How to load money into Khalti
| Method | Fee | Limit and notes |
|---|---|---|
| Mobile banking or e-banking | Free | Up to Rs 2 lakh a day for KYC-verified users; usually instant, can take up to an hour. |
| connectIPS | Not stated | Log in with your connectIPS ID and OTP from the Load Fund screen. |
| Visa or Mastercard debit/credit card | 3% domestic, 5% international | Card must be enabled for online use. Money from international and credit cards goes to your bonus balance. |
| Cash at a bank counter | Not stated | Voucher at partner banks such as NIBL and NIC Asia using Upay ID 13-002; no bank account needed. |
| Linked bank account | Free | Link your bank and pay straight from it without loading the wallet first. |
Khalti’s older load-fund help page lists lower card fees (1.75% domestic, 3.75% international). We use the charges page, which was updated most recently (10 July 2026).
Video: Link your bank account to Khalti, by Khalti
Posted by Khalti on 2 September 2026.
Khalti transaction limits (2026)
For KYC-verified users, Khalti follows the Unified Directive that Nepal Rastra Bank’s Payment System Department issued on 7 March 2025.
| Transaction | Per transaction | Per day | Per month |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bank to wallet / wallet to bank | Rs 2,00,000 | Rs 2,00,000 | Rs 10,00,000 |
| Merchant payments | Rs 2,00,000 | Rs 2,00,000 | Rs 10,00,000 |
| Card load (Visa/Mastercard) | Rs 1,00,000 | Rs 2,00,000 | Rs 10,00,000 |
| Wallet to wallet | Rs 50,000 | Rs 50,000 | Rs 5,00,000 |
| Escrow | Rs 25,000 | Rs 50,000 | Rs 5,00,000 |
- A wallet may not hold more than Rs 50,000 overnight.
- Government taxes and fees, electricity, telecom and water bills, insurance premiums, Social Security Fund contributions and school fees have no limit.
- A personal wallet can normally receive money through at most 10 deposits a day. Nepal Rastra Bank raised this to 50 a day for the festivals: Ashwin 31 to Kartik 8, 2083 (Dashain) and Kartik 21 to 29, 2083 (Tihar and Chhath).
Some older Khalti help pages show different numbers (for example Rs 50,000 per wallet-to-bank transaction). The limits page above is the one that cites the 2025 directive.
Khalti charges
| Service | Charge |
|---|---|
| Wallet to wallet | Free below Rs 100. Above Rs 100: free 3 times a day and 30 times a month, then Rs 10 each. |
| Withdraw to your linked bank account | 3 free a month, then Rs 10 each |
| Card load | 3% domestic card, 5% international card |
| Electricity (NEA) and KUKL water bills | Free below Rs 500, Rs 5 from Rs 500 |
| Government payments | Rs 5 up to Rs 5,000; Rs 8 up to Rs 10,000; Rs 10 above |
| Credit card bill payment | Rs 15 to Rs 60, depending on the amount |
| School fees, EMI, SIP | Rs 10 |
| Khalti virtual card | Rs 25 a quarter |
| Khalti physical card | Rs 250 to issue or renew; ATM withdrawal Rs 15 |
Source: Khalti charges page, last updated 10 July 2026. VAT applies where required, and Khalti says all fees can change.
Extras: rewards, interest and investing
- Daaami Points: earned on transactions above Rs 150. 100 points are worth Rs 1 of bonus balance.
- Super Wallet (from May 2026): interest on your wallet balance for KYC-verified personal accounts with at least 10 Khalti transactions or Rs 1,000 kept overnight. 6% tax is taken from the interest, which is credited every quarter. Khalti does not publish the rate on that page.
- Smart Deposit (June 2025): a recurring deposit with Manjushree Finance from Rs 100, for 6 to 60 months.
- Stock Hub (May 2026): live NEPSE prices, IPO dates and dividend schedules inside the app.
- Freelancers (April 2026): Khalti by IME, working with Stripe, lets Nepali freelancers receive international payments directly into their wallet.
Video: Smart Deposit in Khalti, by Khalti
Posted by Khalti on 3 September 2026.
Khalti for businesses
Khalti’s payment gateway works on websites and apps, with WooCommerce and WHMCS plugins and SDKs for Android, iOS and Flutter. Customers can pay with a Khalti wallet, e-banking, mobile banking, cards or connectIPS. New live merchant accounts are limited to Rs 200 per transaction until the merchant KYC form is completed.
Compare other ways to pay: eSewa and connectIPS.
Frequently asked questions
Who owns Khalti now?
Khalti is run by IME Khalti Ltd after Khalti and IME Pay merged. Nepal Rastra Bank approved the merger in June 2025 and the joint app, Khalti by IME, went live on 17 July 2025.
How do I verify KYC in Khalti?
Open the KYC form in the app, fill in your family, address and ID details, and upload a face photo, a passport-size photo and both sides of your citizenship, licence or passport. Khalti says verification takes 1 to 2 days.
How much does it cost to load Khalti?
Loading from mobile banking or e-banking is free. Card loads cost 3% for domestic cards and 5% for international cards (Khalti charges page, July 2026).
What is the Khalti daily limit?
For KYC-verified users: Rs 2 lakh a day between bank and wallet and for merchant payments, Rs 50,000 a day wallet to wallet, and no more than Rs 50,000 kept in the wallet overnight.
Is sending money from Khalti to Khalti free?
Transfers under Rs 100 are free. Above Rs 100, the first 3 a day and 30 a month are free; after that each costs Rs 10.
What happened to IME Pay?
IME Pay merged into Khalti in July 2025. The IME Pay app was set to close on Kartik 30, 2082, and IME Pay users moved to Khalti after giving consent.
Sources
- Khalti charges, Khalti, updated 10 July 2026
- Transaction limits for consumers, Khalti
- KYC support, Khalti
- How to use Khalti, Khalti
- Load fund support, Khalti
- Your Khalti wallet now earns interest, Khalti blog, 13 May 2026
- Licensed list of PSOs and PSPs, Nepal Rastra Bank
- NRB approves merger of IME Pay and Khalti, B360 Nepal, 23 June 2025
- IME Pay and Khalti merge to form Nepal’s largest digital wallet, B360 Nepal, 18 July 2025
- Khalti and IME Pay merge, Nepali Telecom, November 2025
- Praveen Regmi appointed CEO of IME Khalti, B360 Nepal, 17 November 2025
- Khalti gets licence for domestic money transfer, The Kathmandu Post, 25 April 2019
- NRB raises daily wallet deposit limit during Dashain, Tihar and Chhath, ShareSansar, 16 October 2026
- Khalti starts Smart Deposit service, Nepali Telecom, 24 June 2025
- Khalti by IME enables direct international payments for Nepali freelancers, B360 Nepal, 23 April 2026
- Khalti developer docs, Khalti