KATHMANDU, Nepal- After the American Express has stopped its traveler’s check service provided to Nepal for exchange of US dollars, commercial banks here said that they will not accept it. The banks issuing public notice have cleared that they will not issue the new one but will exchange the earlier issued ones for a month now.
Traveler’s check is considered as the safer means to transfer money as the recipient has to be presented personally for his signature verification before the payment.
According to a Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) source, the central bank has received a letter to not issue such checks from August 31. The letter has asked NRB to destroy the remaining traveler’s checks after September 1 and the central bank has issued circulars to commercial banks accordingly.
Traveler’s checks will not be issued from any bank after that date but those issued earlier will be accepted, the source said.
The American Express is preparing to start issuing travel card instead of traveler’s check. The passengers will now need to carry MasterCard or cash that are accepted globally after stopping the traveler’s check service.
Coordinator of the Management Team of Nepal Bank Maheshwore Lal Shrestha said commercial banks have stopped issuing traveler’s checks after the American Express stopped the service. Nepal Bank alone issues traveler’s checks of around US$ 300,000 a year. Bankers, however, claimed that this will not create much problem. The banks will now start to provide temporary accounts for exchanging dollars to passengers travelling abroad. The account holders can use MasterCard. Many banks like Standard Chartered, Nabil, Himalayan, and Civil have already introduced MasterCard and visa cards.
The central bank has already made arrangements to provide up to US$ 3,000 per person to those travelling to the third countries depending on visa and tickets. The banks had been providing a limited amount of cash and the rest through traveler’s checks on the basis of passport.
