Nepalese fintech companies Khalti and IME Pay, have signed an MoU to merge, reported Nepalese English daily my Republica.
This move marks the “first-ever digital wallet consolidation” in the country, the report said.
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Following an in-principle agreement, the merged company is considering the names ‘IME Khalti’ or ‘Khalti Pay’, with a final decision yet to be made.
The leadership structure, including the board of directors and CEO, has been finalised, while the financial details and share distribution are still under discussion.
This merger is facilitated by the regulatory framework established by Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB), which amended the Transaction and Settlement Bylaw in 2077(subject to Nepalese calendar) to allow digital wallet mergers under certain conditions.
Khalti and IME Pay are reportedly to take first advantage of this regulatory change.
IME Digital, part of the IME Group, launched its mobile money service ‘IME pay’ as part of its digital financial services initiative in 2017 and licenced to provide digital payment solutions.
Khalti was also launched in the same year by Amit Agarwal, Dhruv Adhikari, Arvind Shah, and Manish Modi.
In 2022, Khalti achieved ISO 27001:2013 certification for data security.
Khalti holds a paid-up capital of NRs 50m ($0.34m) and IME Pay has a paid-up capital of NRs 300m ($2.13m), reported Himal Press.
