MNepal, eServGlobal partner for Nepalese mobile financial services
MNepal, a consortium of bank and non-bank entities, is to offer financial services in Nepal in partnership with eServGlobal, according to an announcement from the companies.
Paris-based eServGlobal provides end-to-end mobile financial services technology to emerging markets.
The two companies will provide a shared technology platform that will operate under a common brand and will be open to all of Nepal's banks and financial institutions. As well as offering mobile money services, the platform will be used by Nepalese financial institutions for mobile microfinance services such as savings and insurance. Other features available on the platform will include loyalty and segmentation, the two partners say.
Paolo Montessori, eServGlobal's CEO and managing director, said in a statement that offering a neutral, agnostic and interoperable mobile money platform has the potential to make mobile financial services available to the whole country. "This project represents an opportunity to bring some coherence to the mobile finance market in Nepal," he said.
Montessori is confident that the project will succeed in Nepal and also serve as an example to other regions wishing to introduce mobile financial services.
"We believe that, together with eServGlobal, we can build a financial ecosystem which will meet the needs of users across our nation, both today and for years to come," Mangesh Lal Shrestha, an MNepal board director, said in a statement.
The population of Nepal is approximately 30 million. According to the World Bank, only 25 percent of those over the age of 15 hold an account at a formal financial institution. However, around 70 percent of the population has a mobile phone.