No Stripe or PayPal in Nepal
A Merchant of Record (MoR) guide for SaaS founders — how one Kathmandu-based founder moved to global subscription billing.
Your Product Is Global, But Is Your Payment Setup Still Local?
You’ve built a SaaS product for a global audience — say a project management tool, an API service, or a design plugin. Interest isn’t limited to Kathmandu anymore; customers from other countries have started signing up too. But here’s the real question: how do you collect recurring subscription payments in dollars or euros from customers scattered around the world?
This post follows Bibek, a SaaS founder based in Kathmandu, through how he ran into this exact problem, what he tried, and how he eventually found the Merchant of Record (MoR) model and discovered Vandly.
Why Doesn’t Stripe Work in Nepal?
When Bibek decided to take his SaaS global, Stripe was the first thing that came to mind. But when he opened the country dropdown during signup, Nepal wasn’t on the list. Stripe’s list of fully supported countries sits just above 40, and Nepal isn’t one of them; opening a Stripe account directly with a Nepali ID, tax number, or local bank account simply isn’t possible.
PayPal isn’t any different. Account opening in Nepal is heavily restricted, and in practice it doesn’t offer the kind of infrastructure a SaaS needs for recurring, repeat billing.
Local Systems Exist, But They Don’t Solve Bibek’s Problem
Once Stripe and PayPal were off the table, Bibek started looking into eSewa and Khalti, Nepal’s most widely used domestic payment systems. These are real, strong platforms; they carry the bulk of Nepal’s digital payments. But they’re built entirely around NPR, for domestic transactions. What Bibek needed was recurring subscription billing in dollars or euros from international customers.
These systems can convert a one-off international transfer into NPR and drop it into a wallet, but what a SaaS actually needs is different: automatic monthly card charges, automatic retries on failed payments, a subscription management dashboard, multi-currency support. Local wallets don’t offer any of that.
Bibek didn’t give up while figuring out how to get around this, and kept researching. In a Slack community for founders, he came across a message from another South Asian entrepreneur dealing with the exact same problem:
“We use the MoR (Merchant of Record) model. It works even where Stripe doesn’t exist, because you’re not the seller of record, the platform is.”
That sentence opened up a new path for Bibek. So what exactly is this Merchant of Record thing?
What Is a Merchant of Record (MoR)?
A Merchant of Record, put simply, is an intermediary that legally buys your product on your behalf and immediately resells it to the customer. The customer’s payment goes to the MoR platform, not directly to you. The platform collects the payment, issues the invoice under its own company, pays the tax, and transfers the remainder to you after taking its commission.
Full ownership, control, and IP of your product stay entirely with you; the MoR just takes on the tedious parts — invoicing, tax collection, and navigating international regulations.
Why MoR Solves This for a SaaS Founder in Nepal
Normally, when a founder in Nepal hits the Stripe wall, there are two paths left: incorporate in the US or another supported country, or make do with local payment systems. With the MoR model, though, the seller never has to open payment infrastructure under their own name; the MoR holds it under its own account and processes the sale under its own legal entity. Being based in Nepal stops being a blocker.
Why Vandly? A MoR Comparison for Nepali SaaS Founders
Seeing “150+ Countries” and “No company required” on Vandly’s site, the first thing Bibek did was check and confirm whether Nepal was on the restricted-country list.
- Subscriptions Are Supported
Vandly supports monthly subscription products alongside one-time sales, which fit Bibek’s SaaS exactly.
- It’s Backed by Proven Infrastructure, Not a Blank Slate
Vandly isn’t an unproven, ground-up startup. It’s a product of Remotify.co OÜ (based in Estonia), a team that’s been working on global payment and compliance infrastructure since 2022 and serves more than 15,000 users.
- The First 10 Transactions Are Completely Free
On the first 10 transactions or up to $500 in sales, Vandly covers both its own commission and the Stripe processing fee, so it’s 0% + 0%. After that threshold, the standard rate applies: 2% commission plus the card processing fee.
In the end, Bibek finding Vandly wasn’t a coincidence. Hitting a location wall is what introduced him to the Merchant of Record model in the first place, and Vandly’s fit with subscription-based SaaS is what closed the loop.
How to Start Selling on Vandly: A Step-by-Step Guide
Step 1: Sign Up and Verify Identity
Bibek creates a free account on Vandly and completes identity verification. No foreign company needed.
Step 2: Add the Subscription Product
He uploads his SaaS’s monthly plan, sets the price in dollars, and generates a payment link/checkout integration.
Step 3: Distribute Globally
He adds the payment link to his site and product page. Now users anywhere in the world can subscribe.
Step 4: A Sale Happens
A customer subscribes. Vandly processes the payment under its own legal entity, automatically calculates and applies VAT/sales tax based on the customer’s country, and means Bibek never has to open a “Stripe account” or set up a foreign company under his own name.
Step 5: Payout
Bibek’s earnings reach him through his chosen payout method.
Who’s Responsible for What in the MoR Model?
| Party | Responsibility |
| Customer | Pays the final, tax-inclusive amount calculated by Vandly |
| Bibek (seller) | Only files personal/corporate income tax in his own country |
| Vandly (MoR) | Collects and remits VAT/sales tax, issues invoices, handles chargebacks/disputes, fraud detection, identity verification, and pays its own corporate tax |
Vandly Is More Than Just a Payment Tool
Bibek’s story is one of hitting a localization wall in Nepal and solving global SaaS sales with a Merchant of Record. He hit his subscriber target within two months, without ever setting up a foreign company, without the constant fear of “will my account get blocked, will I get hit with a tax penalty,” and entirely above board.
If you’re trying to sell a global SaaS from Nepal like Bibek was, and Stripe and PayPal not being available (or local systems not being built for foreign-currency subscriptions) is what’s holding you back, looking into the Merchant of Record model and setting up a free account on Vandly is a good place to start.
vandly.co — The all-in-one platform for selling digital products globally without a company.