If you've opened either the Khalti app or the old IME Pay app in the last several months, you've already run into the IME Khalti merger in some form — a new logo, a migration prompt, or a notice that your old app is being retired. This wasn't a small product update. It was the first-ever merger of two digital wallets in Nepal's fintech history, combining two of the country's biggest payment platforms into a single entity.
If you're still wondering what actually changed, whether your money is safe, or what you're supposed to do with your old IME Pay account, this guide walks through the entire khalti ime pay merge — what happened, why it happened, and exactly what it means for your wallet going forward.
IME Pay and Khalti combined into a single platform, Khalti by IME, serving 12.7 million users.
At a glance
IME Pay (5.7M users) + Khalti (7M users) = Khalti by IME, 12.7M combined users, operated by IME Khalti Limited, approved by Nepal Rastra Bank.
What Is the IME Khalti Merger?
The IME Khalti merger is the consolidation of IME Pay and Khalti — two of Nepal's largest digital wallet providers — into a single combined company called IME Khalti Limited, operating its consumer-facing app under the brand "Khalti by IME."
Both companies were independently licensed payment service providers (PSPs) regulated by Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB). Rather than continuing to compete as separate platforms, they merged into one unified entity under a regulatory framework NRB introduced specifically to allow this kind of digital wallet consolidation.
The basic facts:
- IME Pay brought roughly 5.7 million users, known mainly for remittance services, inDrive ride-share payments, and being the only major wallet in Nepal that paid interest on wallet balances.
- Khalti brought roughly 7 million users, known for movie ticketing, event bookings, and a younger, tech-forward user base.
- Combined, the merged entity now serves over 12.7 million customers — making it Nepal's largest digital wallet by user base.
- The merger received final approval from Nepal Rastra Bank, with integrated operations beginning in mid-2025 and the transition fully completing by late 2025.
This wasn't a buyout or an acquisition in the traditional sense — it was structured as a genuine merger, with leadership, capital, and brand identity restructured around the new combined company.
The Merger Timeline: How We Got Here
Understanding the ime khalti merger is easier when you see how it actually unfolded:
Still on old IME Pay? That migration window has closed. Reach out to Khalti's support team directly rather than trying to log into an app that's no longer active — contact details are in the FAQ section below.
Why Did Khalti and IME Pay Merge?
This is the part most users skip past, but it's worth understanding because it explains what to expect from the combined platform going forward. According to the company's own leadership, the merger wasn't a rescue move for a struggling business — it was framed as a deliberate strategic decision, for three main reasons:
1. Eliminating duplicated infrastructure
Both companies were independently building the same kind of digital ecosystem — wallets, agent networks, merchant integrations, compliance systems. Merging let them redirect that spend toward new product development instead.
2. Moving beyond basic payments
The real opportunity in Nepali fintech isn't just wallet-to-wallet transfers — it's investments, micro-insurance, and small-ticket loans, which require serious sustained investment. A combined company has the scale to pursue that.
3. Complementary strengths
IME Pay's remittance expertise paired naturally with Khalti's youth-oriented innovation. Rather than competing in the same narrow lane, the merger let each company's strengths cover the other's gaps.
What Changed for IME Pay Users
If you were an IME Pay user, here's exactly what happened to your account during the khalti ime pay merge:
- No new app was created. Instead of building something from scratch, IME Pay users were migrated directly into the existing Khalti app.
- Your balance moved automatically. Wallet balance, accrued interest, transaction history, and reward points all transferred during migration.
- IME Points became "Daaami Points." Your old IME Pay reward points were merged with Khalti's points system and converted into Khalti's unified rewards currency.
- Super Wallet status carried over. If you had Super Wallet status on IME Pay, that status remained intact after migrating to Khalti.
- Your linked bank account needed re-linking. This is the one genuinely important catch: the bank account you had linked to IME Pay does not carry over automatically. Khalti's own linked bank accounts are unaffected, but if your bank was linked specifically through IME Pay, you need to re-link it inside Khalti after migrating.
- KYC didn't need to be redone. If you were already KYC-verified on either platform, that verification was honored on the merged platform — you didn't need to resubmit documents from scratch (though some edge cases with mismatched names or document numbers were flagged for manual review).
- Your old IME Pay account is no longer accessible. Once migration completed, the original IME Pay account was retired permanently.
What Changed for Khalti Users
If you were already a Khalti user and never touched IME Pay, the changes were smaller but still real:
- An updated app with more features. Updating the Khalti app brought in IME Pay's remittance capabilities, interest-bearing wallet features, and other tools that previously lived only on the other platform.
- A combined rewards system. Daaami Points now blend what used to be two separate loyalty programs into one.
- A bigger merchant and agent network. IME's nationwide agent network — historically one of the largest in Nepal, with tens of thousands of touchpoints — became part of the same ecosystem Khalti users could access.
- No action required for most users. Beyond updating the app, existing Khalti users generally didn't need to do anything manually.
What Khalti by IME Looks Like Now
Today, the merged platform — operating as Khalti by IME under IME Khalti Limited — functions as a single, broader digital wallet rather than two separate apps competing for the same users. The combined feature set spans:
| Category | What's included |
| Payments & bills | Utility bills, mobile top-up, EMI payments, insurance premiums, merchant QR payments |
| Remittance | Inbound international remittance (WorldRemit, Remitly) and domestic transfers |
| Banking | Direct bank linking, transfers to any major Nepali bank, direct payments from linked accounts |
| Savings | Recurring deposit feature with interest — a carryover from IME Pay's strength |
| Lifestyle | Movie and event ticketing, flight bookings, in-app shopping — historically Khalti's strength |
| Rewards | Unified Daaami Points replacing both platforms' separate loyalty programs |
For everyday users, the practical effect is that features which used to require switching between two different apps are now all available in one place.
Is Your Money Safe? Addressing the Common Worry
Whenever two financial platforms merge, the most common question — understandably — is whether user funds are at risk during the transition. A few points worth knowing:
✓ Regulator-approved, not a failure. Nepal Rastra Bank granted final approval and was directly involved in the public launch. NRB doesn't approve PSP consolidations without reviewing financial and operational soundness.
✓ Funds transferred automatically. Wallet balances, accrued interest, and reward points moved as part of the standard transition flow — not something users had to manually request.
✓ "First of its kind" means new, not unsound. There was no established playbook to follow, which is part of why the rollout took time. That unfamiliarity made some users nervous, but doesn't reflect a problem with the transaction itself.
If you still have any concern about a specific balance or transaction from the migration period, the right move is to contact Khalti's support directly rather than relying on secondhand information.
What This Means for Nepal's Digital Wallet Landscape in 2026
Zooming out, the IME Khalti merger is a meaningful data point for anyone watching digital wallet nepal 2026 trends more broadly.
It reshuffled the competitive order. Before the merger, eSewa was widely regarded as Nepal's largest digital wallet by user base. With Khalti and IME Pay's user bases combined, the merged entity's 12.7 million users put it in direct contention for the top spot — turning what used to be a three-way competitive field into a more concentrated two-player race at the top.
It signals where Nepali fintech is heading next. The stated rationale behind the merger — moving beyond basic payments into investments, micro-insurance, and small-ticket lending — reflects a broader pattern across Nepal's digital wallet sector. Wallets are increasingly trying to become full personal-finance platforms rather than staying narrowly focused on payments and transfers.
It sets a precedent for further consolidation. Because NRB had to specifically amend its Payment and Settlement Bylaw to permit a wallet merger like this, the IME Khalti deal effectively created a template. If smaller wallet providers struggle to scale independently, this merger demonstrates a regulatory pathway already exists for similar consolidations.
It puts pressure on remaining competitors. A combined wallet with this scale, plus IME's existing nationwide agent network and Khalti's lifestyle-service ecosystem, raises the bar for what users expect from a "complete" digital wallet experience in Nepal.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need to download a new app?
No. There is no separate new app. Former IME Pay users migrate into the existing Khalti app; existing Khalti users simply update their app to access the new combined features.
What happened to my IME Pay reward points?
They were merged with Khalti's points and converted into the unified "Daaami Points" system.
Do I need to redo my KYC verification?
No, if you were already KYC-verified on either platform. In rare cases where personal details didn't exactly match between the two systems, accounts were flagged for manual verification by support rather than rejected outright.
My bank account isn't working after migrating — what happened?
This is expected if your bank was linked specifically through your old IME Pay account. Bank links from IME Pay expire during migration and need to be re-linked inside the new Khalti app. Bank accounts that were already linked directly to Khalti are unaffected.
Is IME Pay still operating as a separate app?
No. Following the migration deadline, the standalone IME Pay app was retired and is no longer operational. The unified platform is Khalti by IME.
Who do I contact if I have an issue related to the merger?
Khalti's support team can be reached by email, WhatsApp chat, or toll-free phone line — look for current contact details on the official Khalti by IME website, since support channels are sometimes updated.
The Bottom Line
The IME Khalti merger isn't just a rebrand — it's a genuine structural consolidation of two of Nepal's largest digital wallets into one combined platform, backed by Nepal Rastra Bank's approval and built around a deliberate strategic logic: stop duplicating infrastructure, and use the combined scale to build the next generation of financial services beyond simple payments.
For everyday users, the practical impact comes down to a few concrete things: your balance and rewards moved automatically, your KYC mostly carried over, and the one action item that actually matters is checking whether you need to re-link a bank account that used to connect through IME Pay. Beyond that, what you're left with is simply a bigger, more feature-complete wallet than either platform offered on its own — which, as far as mergers go, is about as smooth an outcome as users could have hoped for.
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