Nearly every aspect of our lives has been deeply influenced by the significant changes that technology has brought up in recent years. Moreover, technology has completely changed the way we interact and communicate as well as how we work or operate a business. With the improvement in technology, new products and services are being developed each day making our daily lives a lot easier. For example, the introduction of the internet and mobile devices has totally transformed the way of communication and accessibility of information. While Nepal has been a little late in bringing the latest technologies, it is following the trend and witnessing rapid growth. From online shopping to online banking, we have seen massive changes with the development of the internet and mobile devices. Life has become much easier and more convenient.
Talking about the banking industry, internet banking and mobile banking have revolutionized the banking sector with the improvement in technology. After the establishment of Nepal’s first bank, Nepal Bank Ltd. in 1937 A.D. internet banking service was introduced in 2002 by Kumari Bank Ltd. The banking customers had to wait for almost 65 years to get internet banking service. Likewise, Laxmi Bank Ltd. brought mobile banking (SMS Banking) service in 2004 for the first time. Since the initiation of mobile banking in 2004, it has drastically improved banking transactions.
As of now, there are 18,459,193 registered mobile banking users. Furthermore, this is the only number of registered users that have been using mobile banking applications developed by F1Soft. Similarly, the improvement of mobile banking has brought a massive transformation in digital lending in recent years.
With the rapid increase in the number of mobile banking users, the digital lending platform has become more accessible and convenient. To initiate the idea of digital lending in Nepal, we introduced Foneloan in 2019. Foneloan is a digital financing product that provides small short-term loans to banks’ customers through their mobile banking applications. It provides loans for a variety of purposes including personal loans, business loans, and other different loans. With the aim of making credit service more accessible to the people of Nepal, Foneloan allows banks to disburse loans up to Rs. 2,00,000 instantly, without even needing to visit a bank. In addition to this, it doesn’t require any paperwork or collateral either.
The key feature of Foneloan is to provide quick and easy access to loans that can be utilized for various purposes. Be it for your vacation expense or a product purchase or as a backup fund in times of emergencies, you can get a loan easily. The practice of digital lending in Nepal through Foneloan started with Nabil Bank Ltd. in September 2020. At the beginning of its launch, the loan was only made available to the salaried employees maintaining payroll accounts with Nabil Bank Ltd. As of now, eligible banking customers from Citizens Bank Ltd., Everest Bank Ltd., Kumari Bank Ltd., Laxmi Bank Ltd., Prabhu Bank Ltd, Nepal Investment Mega Bank Ltd, and Machhapuchchhre Bank Ltd. can take a loan with just a few taps through their respective mobile banking apps. On top of that, Foneloan offers you the option to repay your loan in flexible installments. Thus, customers don’t need to be worried about repaying the loan. According to the latest report from January 2023, Foneloan has disbursed over 85,000+ loans worth Rs. 1.6 billion.
With its quick and easy loan application process, Foneloan is reshaping the way digital lending is done in Nepal. With only a few taps, eligible users can get an instant loan to their bank account. Thus, it has really upgraded the way of lending by eliminating the time-consuming process of visiting the banks for a loan. Likewise, the flexibility in terms of loan repayment has also made it more convenient to use it.
Loan eligibility is not limited to only salaried employees; Foneloan has also extended its instant loan facility to QR merchants and regular account holders. Thus, QR merchants who are maintaining their financial transactions are eligible to take loans helping them to fulfill their short-term credit requirements. Being the first and only instant loan provider without any requirement of paperwork, bank visits, and collateral, Foneloan aims to be the widest digital lending platform in Nepal.
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