Electronic payments increases
KATHMANDU, JAN 28:
The preference of Nepalis is gradually shifting to electronic mode of payment instead of cash as the use of plastic and mobile money has grown in recent days.
In the first five months of the current fiscal year, use of credit cards has increased by 37.4 per cent since the beginning of the fiscal year, according to Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB)’s data.
As of mid-December, people have spent Rs 542 million through their credit cards issued by various commercial banks. In the corresponding period a year ago, the amount financed by the banks as
credit card loans amounted to Rs 394 million.
“Credit cards are less popular than debit cards but the use has definitely been increasing,”said manager at the Card Operations of Nabil Bank Niraj Sharma. Nabil Bank has issued about 25,000 credit cards for their clients while number of debit cards issued is double the number.
As plastic money is much more convenient to carry that removes the need to lug a huge sum of money around, people are switching the preference to spend. However, worldwide, internet banking and mobile banking has emerged as the replacement of cards. But it might take time in Nepal.
The banks are also trying to make the internet banking more secure so that customers do not have to visit the branches for each transaction.
In Nepal also, the growing e-payment and mobile payment portals is trying to replace the need of having cash or card at hand. Kumari Bank’s Mobile Cash, Hello Paisa, Fonepay and eSewa are mobile payment service providers that are trying to be established in this untapped sector.
“We are trying to bring e-payment in the mainstream so that more dependence of cash can be reduced,” said Biswas Dhakal, who is president of F1 Soft International that has powered Fonepay and eSewa.
Fonepay and Hello Paisa works as mobile wallet that facilitates the customers of any affiliate banks to make payments. The wallet facilitates customers of any bank and also the unbanked customer to make payments for purchase of goods and services from their mobile phones. The customers can make merchant payment at retailers, utility payment for phones bills and electricity among others, make person to person transfer or can store it in the wallet account.
“Though, e-payment portals are convenient for the people as they can make payments in their own time, we need to engage more people in it so that people get used to the idea,” pointed out Dhakal.
Moreover, even banks are turning towards branchless banking as alternative to brick-and-mortar branches.
Everest Bank, Rastriya Banijya Bank, Bank of Kathmandu, Mega Bank and Siddhartha Bank offer the agent based branchless banking service using smart card or debit card that allows customers to withdraw or deposit money in their accounts through the designated agents. The service allows banks to provide financial services to vast areas without incurring cost of running a physical branch.
Source: THT
