KATHMANDU: Laxmi Bank Ltd (LBL) — one of the leaders in electronic banking in Nepal — has introduced payments through mobile phones under the brand Mobile Money.

“A customer can, at present, transfer funds to 10 selected customers, either post-paid or pre-paid Nepal Telecom mobile and landline bills and Laxmi Bank’s credit bills through mobile SMS,” said bank CEO Suman Joshi, launching bank’s latest product — a fusion of banking technology and communication system that can cha-nge the complete banking landscape in future.

“At present, a customer can transfer Rs 5,000 but the bank and customer can work it out and increase the limit upto Rs 1,00,000,” Joshi informed adding that though it costs a customer Rs 10 per transaction, the Mobile Money saves time and is reliable.

“The system has been put through rigorous testing and carries a number of security features to ensure safety and reliability of financial transactions as our strong suite of electronic banking solutions is backed by strong technologies with a proven track record of innovation,” he added.

As its next step, LBL is planning merchant payment system through its Mobile Money where a customer can pay bills at shopping malls. A true anytime-anywhere servi-ce, it is also planning to provide the service to non-Laxmi Bank acco-unt-holders, he said add-ing, “it could be a powerful retail payment tool.”

There are around five million mobile phone users in Nepal and the number is increasing. “As mobile phone is no longer a luxury but a necessity, Mobile Money has now added one more feature — banking — to popular means of communication,” said the CEO of LBL that strongly advocates migration from ‘cash’ to ‘electronic’ means of payments.