Money sent but not received – Digital Wallet Users Frustrated!
With the exponential growth in internet technologies and ease of access to smartphones by average Nepalese consumers, digital wallets have created a huge footprint in Nepal’s Fintech sector. That said, not unlike various other ‘digitization’ drives by Nepal’s governmental sectors( *cough cough Passport and license), it seems that wallets have created chaos and inconvenience to its customers.
Digital banking has revolutionized how we make and receive payments globally. Very few from 90s onwards might remember the hassle one had to go through with a cheque in hand waiting in a long queue at the bank. Basically, one had to carry cash everywhere and if God-forbid, one ran out of the money in remote places, searching for an ATM would be a chaotic adventure by itself.
The Digitization Conundrum
With the rise of online banking and digital wallets, Nepal is increasingly moving towards a cashless economy. Today, even most small retailers, at least in the capital city, accept one or the other form of mobile payment. The ability to send payments through these digital mediums has also mitigated security issues. Gone are the days when we hear people being robbed after withdrawing their life savings from a bank.
While what has been mentioned above sounds like a great leap in Banking and Payment technology, reality is far from this ‘truth’. Just like our internet services are unreliable when it comes to ‘online’ systems like filling in the form for driving license and passport, digital mediums too have been reckless with their services. We are sure that, most of you who use these digital wallets have had at least one instance, where your money is sent but is not received.
We are talking from personal experience here. Within the past month alone, we have had our transactions on freeze for multiple days. When we contacted these digital wallet’s customer care, they seem to give random answers. Within the same day, we got two responses. The first one was ‘ Money has been received . We will update it shortly’. Second one was ‘ We will do it tomorrow for sure’. When we quizzed that the next day was a holiday, the staff said that the money will be deposited nonetheless. Needless to say, it took 4 days before the money was refunded back.
What we found mind-boggling is that even after we said that the money was for hospital emergency, they were completely apathetic to the situation. I, personally, was stuck at a Muglin hotel during Dashain when the money I sent was not credited to the hotel owner for two hours. The fact that this ‘money sent but not received’ seems to be a routine experience definitely should raise some eyebrows. We are sure that this has resulted in risky situations to customers. At least when one ATM did not work, customers would go looking for different machines. However, the regular occurrence of money being frozen by digital wallets like Esewa seems to hint at allegedly nefarious business practices.
Are Digital Wallets Looking to Maximize Interest Revenue?
It is common knowledge that financial organizations make interest off the money customers store in their respective wallets in addition to the transaction fees. As of now, none of the digital wallets charge any fee for transacting through their platforms. So, how exactly are they making money? While we cannot say with absolute certainty, the frequency at which customers’ hard earned money gets stuck with these digital wallets in Nepal tend to hint at unethical business practice. This seems to happen with increased frequency especially before a holiday or extended weekend. For example, with your money being stuck on Friday, you have no choice but to wait till Sunday just to have your complaints heard, let alone mitigated.
There is a reason why we say Politics and Business do not match. Few of you might remember the infamous hacking by eSewa case, where allegedly, the company, after multiple attempts to have an article that was critical of Mr. Ali, hacked and removed the article of Kathmandupress. When our corporate tycoons have bonhomie with our corrupt politicians, how can we expect our money and data to be secure? Monopolies are antithetical to business. Monopolies create lethargy, as there is no one to compete. Even if we say that these wallets do not engage in any unethical activity and that these issues are simply technical problems, they do not have incentive to better their services. Most of the wallets/ vendors belong to the same parent company, even if an average consumer think of them as different brands.
Summing up
Whatever the reasons, it is simply unacceptable that customers are left wondering where there money went for days. Whether this is due to Nepal’s Central Bank policies, technical issues or unethical business practice, it makes no sense that customers go through more hassle and chaos when making and receiving payments through these digital wallets. We put the onus on these digital wallets primarily because, irrespective of the reasons, it is their responsibility to ensure they handle their client’s money well and efficiently. The fact that their customer representative were completely apathetic even when told about the hospital emergency speaks volume regarding the business culture of Nepal. While we mostly blame government for such issues ( server issues, technical problems, rude employees), even private sectors seem to be rampant with these problems. We hope that these wallets mend their ways. Cash and ATM are always an option otherwise!
