Photo: IC

Chinese payment service provider WeChat Pay and Ant Financial urged users to comply with local laws in overseas markets on Tuesday following a ban on the same day by Nepal's central bank. 

The Himalayan Times reported on Tuesday that Nepal Rastra Bank, the central bank, issued a ban on Tuesday on these Chinese digital wallets in Nepal, citing foreign exchange and tax source reasons. 

It is understood that the ban only applies to the illegal use of these widely popular digital wallets and their normal use is unaffected.

Ant Financial, which runs Alipay, said it urges its vast user base to follow its bar code user agreement. The company has stepped up preventive measures to contain the use of bar codes that were only meant to be used within China's borders at overseas locations, according to a post on Sina Weibo by domestic financial news site Caijing. 

Tencent, which owns WeChat Pay, made a similar announcement.

"Alipay's cross-border payment operations in Nepal are operating as normal," Ant Financial said in a statement sent to the Global Times on Tuesday.