Surge in digital transaction during lockdown

Dec 24, 2020

In what could be seen as a silver lining of the lockdown, the Royal Monetary Authority, RMA, is seeing a surge in digital transactions. In the first three days of the lockdown, the Central Bank recorded 821,816 domestic transactions in Thimphu alone, through various digital payment channels.

The transaction translates to Nu. 2.32 billion. Of it, mobile payment recorded 61 percent of the total transaction value of Nu.1.4 billion. It is an increase by double fold compared to the transaction in the same period during the first lockdown.

Similarly, transaction through QR code scan recorded more than 61,000, amounting to Nu. 73 million.

RMA also recorded an increase in the use of mobile wallets which saw close to 14,000 transactions, amounting to around Nu. 4 million.

The Central Bank attributes the significant increase in digital payment transactions to an increase in mobile banking subscribers over the recent months. The banks and telecom service providers recorded close to 63,000 new mobile banking subscribers and close to 15,000 e-wallet subscribers since the start of the first nationwide lockdown.

Phub Gyem