Nepal Rastra Bank Suspects That Nepali Dollar Prepaid Cards Are Being Used To Purchase Cryptocurrency. Nepali dollar prepaid cards and accounts are suspected of being used for illegal cryptocurrency and virtual asset purchases. The annual report (2023/24) issued by the Financial Intelligence Unit of Nepal Rastra Bank has revealed this information.
The National Bank believes that people are purchasing virtual assets (including cryptocurrency) using Nepali accounts, and due to this, Suspicious Transaction Reports (STRs) and Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) have increased. Similarly, prepaid dollar cards are also being used for such purchases. Which is illegal according to the existing laws of Nepal.
He deposits $350 into it and makes various payments, such as Facebook Ad Boost. However, some payments have the caveat ‘POS Trn @ CRYPTO PAYMENTS’ and ‘POS Trn @ ***** JEWELRY’.
The National Bank has also provided an example to further clarify this issue. For example, a customer named Ram was issued a dollar prepaid card for payment of goods and services. He loaded $350 on his card and made various payments, such as Facebook Ad Boost.
When the bank questioned the customer, he said that he was in the business of recharge and e-service top-up and that his customer (a jewelry shop owner) had given him cash and purchased jewelry using the same dollar card. This incident has further strengthened the National Bank’s suspicion that there is an increasing trend of misusing prepaid dollar cards to purchase illegal items such as cryptocurrencies.
The report emphasizes that this should be taken seriously, as suspicious activities related to cryptocurrency transactions have been increasing in recent times.
Earlier, the Financial Intelligence Unit of the National Bank had also released a strategic analysis report titled ‘Cyber Enabled Fraud’ in 2080 BS, analyzing financial activities related to cybercrime. The report also pointed out the risk of misuse of digital payment methods.
