Mobile Banking: Taking over the banking world

Would you bank somewhere that didn’t have a mobile banking app? Well, I’m sure I would not. Today, banking industries are getting largely tech savvy because of their convenience and the approach of getting things done in a couple of minutes. Gone are the days when one used to spend hours in endless queue of banks just get a simple bank account inquiry, wait for the cashier to finish counting money at your cash withdrawal request and spend days in anticipation of getting your salary cheque cleared. Today, we’ve been provided with the option of hassle-free online transactions for shopping, money transfer to multiple accounts and bank-account management on-the-move and the credit goes to mobile banking which has created a massive shift in the landscape, molding banking as easy as the click of a button.

Nepal is also in the same page with the technology and it all started back in 2004 when Laxmi Bank started its first mobile (SMS) banking facility and becoming an initiator to the future of innovative banking in the country. In fact, as per the latest statistics from Nepal Rastra Bank, today more than 9 million people use mobile banking in Nepal and the reason is not just about their instinctive, interactive, and advanced nature of getting things done. Mobile banking is no longer just an easy way to check our balances, but rather they have become a crucial part of the banking experience and something that all of us evaluate when choosing a bank.

Let’s not go too back. Today, considering the unfortunate scenarios where the country is imposing lockdown every now and then, the only option for people revolving around any industry has been dependent upon the mobile banking options. In fact, the banks are now compulsorily asking individuals to activate their mobile banking and are even providing the option to start one being at home.

Ram Shakya, one of the old-aged residents of Patan says, “My son resides at US and sends me money every month. Everything was normal until the nation went into lockdown on March 24, 2020. I wasn’t comfortable with mobile banking option and was relying on the physical branches. But this left me with no income and I had to struggle hard during the lockdown period. Once the government eased the situation, the first thing I did was getting my mobile banking activated. Now, I am slowly getting used to one and I feel it’s a compulsion today more than a choice for anyone.”

Well, it’s not just about the convenience and decreased infrastructure costs, the service is equally secured and risk free. All A-level banking institutions use encryption that defends and protects your privacy, identity and your financial information. Lately, mobile phones also contain face-recognition technology, fingerprint scanners, and even iris scanners to confirm the customer which means fewer instances of compromised data and fraud for both the banks and clients. This also cuts down on the costs for the financial institutions as they aren’t required to invest in physical branches. Shruti Thapa, an intern working in NIC Asia’s Thapathali branch says, “We try to convince our customer for a mobile banking registration at the time they open up their account. At times, we also provide free schemes for this so that they get into mobile banking habit.” This clearly shows why mobile banking is the future and how its continued evolution will impact your lives.

But the question that stays unanswered is whether Nepal is ready to cope up with the security concern issues that come along the adoption of mobile banking in Nepal. The news that read about how five Chinese nationals broke into the ATMs of k-town and stole 12.6 million is also an indication to the poor management of modern banking in our country. In this situation, it will be interesting to see how we make ourselves e-banking ready in the days to come.