The Bhutanese Leading the way.
According to the Royal Monetary Authority’s (RMA) annual report of 2021, the retail transactions have gradually shifted from paper-based to electronic forms since the adoption of the digital payment system. It states that due to the pandemic, it has become increasingly important to adopt and use new digital technologies in order to keep up with trends throughout the world.
The Digital Drukyul Flagship Project, which consists of eight separate programs spanning the citizen services, education, health, and economic sectors, was started by the government to quicken Bhutan’s attempts to go digital.
Accordingly, the report states that RMA is prepared to realize the greatest benefits of digital technologies in the financial industry as it embarks on the national goal.
In terms of issue and acceptance at the merchant level, the report states that RMA has reached another milestone in the digital payment ecosystem. On the supply side, the number of businesses accepting QR payments has increased nationwide. The pricing, interchange fees, interbank fund transfer cap, and Know Your Customer (KYC) procedures have all been updated and made simpler to improve acceptability.
The routing of financial transactions through digital platforms has evolved. For instance, a total of 35.8 million transactions totaling Nu 177,234.8 million were recorded in June 2021, representing growth of 123.0 percent and 46.0 percent, respectively, over the same month in the previous year.
