Nepal Bankers’ Association (NBA) in a partnership with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) in a support from the Ministry of Economy and Finance, Government of South Korea, organized digital awareness program titled “Knowing your Digital Payment Services for Digital Empowerment” in Hetauda, Bagmati Province. The primary goal of the program was to raise awareness and equipe the digital financial service knowledge among banking officials, with a particular focus on the front-line operational staff of member banks.
In his opening remarks, Mr. Ashim Nepal from IFC Nepal warmly welcomed the participants and outlined the key objectives of the program, setting the tone for the event. He also discussed IFC’s ongoing Digital Financial Services project in Nepal, including their efforts in assisting Nepal Rastra Bank with policy reforms in the Digital Financial Sector. He also underscored the importance of improving digital financial literacy and stressed the need to enhance the knowledge related to the security of these services, particularly at the grassroots level.
During the program, Mr. Sanjib Subba, Digital Financial Services Expert, led an informative session with a presentation that covered various aspects of digitalization. He discussed the landscape of digital financial services in Nepal, digital payment products, cross-border payments, digital lending, and issues related to cyber fraud. Mr. Subba emphasized how digitalization is shaping the future of the banking industry and highlighted the crucial role of front desk officers in understanding these changes and communicating them to customers. He also pointed out the rising incidents of fraud in digital banking, stressing that building customer awareness about digitalization is not only beneficial for customers but also essential for banks.
Recognizing the potential of Gen AI, the session explored how digital solutions and Gen AI integration can empower the knowledge of bank employees and bring the efficiency in banking operation.
Delivering a closing remarks, Mr. Kapil Gautam from NBA thanked all the participants for their active participation. He noted that while digitalization offers numerous opportunities, its challenges should not be underestimated. To fully harness these opportunities, deepening the understanding and knowledge related to digital financial services is crucial. Additionally, he highlighted NBA’s ongoing efforts in this area, and urged all participants to share their learnings to their team members so that the benefits of the training are widely disseminated.
The program was attended by almost 50 officials from the member banks.
