Kantipur Media Group (KMG), the largest media company in Nepal, has acquired a stake in F1Soft International, a software development company and the developer of e-Sewa, an online payment gateway, which has been playing a key role in providing mobile financial services and promoting e-commerce in the country.

F1Soft is the designer of financial technology products, such as mobile and internet banking platforms, and digital wallet. The products of F1Soft are being used by 95 percent of banks and financial institutions in the country.

These products have enabled over five million people in Nepal to pay utility bills, make online payments and remit funds for the last nine years.

“This partnership with KMG will help us to expand our services nationwide. This partnership will also help us to generate awareness about financial technology products and raise people’s access to mobile banking and mobile financial services,” a statement issued by F1Soft on Tuesday quotes its president Biswas Dhakal as saying.

The partnership has been announced at a time when demand for platforms that support electronic transaction is gradually increasing in Nepal with the rapid rise in the number of mobile phone users.

“The products of F1Soft will facilitate people to make online transactions even in remote areas where there is no presence of brick-and-mortar bank branches,” says the statement, adding, “We are also making efforts to cater affordable services to Nepalis, who want to send home money from abroad.”

In partnership with KMG, F1Soft aims to develop and deploy financial technology that suits the local needs. F1Soft will also focus on innovation of technology that caters to the needs of the society. “We believe, this partnership will be a milestone in development of information technology and financial technology sectors,” the statement quotes Dhakal as saying.