The Nepal Bankers’ Association (NBA), in collaboration with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), hosted a series of workshops in Gandaki and Lumbini provinces titled “Knowing your Digital Payment Services for Digital Empowerment” focusing on the evolution of digital financial services (DFS) in Nepal. The primary goal of the event was to enhance the participants’ knowledge of DFS, relevant regulatory frameworks, and the crucial role of financial inclusion.
Mr. Ashim Nepal, Operations Officer at IFC, opened the workshop by outlining its objectives and providing an update on the DFS Nepal project. He emphasized the importance of improving digital financial literacy and highlighted the need to enhance access to and security of these services, especially at the grassroots level.
The session then moved forward with Mr. Sanjib Subba, Digital Financial Services Expert, who started interactive quiz session titled “Ice-Breakers.” This activity emphasized the significance of digital services and highlighted security concerns such as phishing and fraud. Mr. Subba also conducted interactive sessions “Digitally Empowered Employees” showcasing various digital financial services and products available in Nepal, exploring methods to increase their adoption and foster a more inclusive digital financial sector.
The workshop explored use cases such as M-Pesa, the role of artificial intelligence in advancing digital financial inclusion, and innovations like credit scoring models. The session covered topics including the “bank-in-a-box” concept, the challenges faced by “legacy banks” due to the rise of digital banks, digital lending, the importance of QR code interoperability, consumer rights in terms of its use, and Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) services. The sessions also addressed the growing issue of cyber fraud, even among educated individuals, underscoring the importance of continuous consumer education on fraud prevention. Mr. Subba highlighted the main causes of fraud as GIF – “Greed, Ignorance and Fear”.
The session was attended by more than 50 banking officials in each province from various commercial banks.
