Fonepay reappoints Diwas Kumar as CEO for four-year term

KATHMANDU: Fonepay Payment Service (Fonepay) has reappointed Diwas Kumar as chief executive officer for an additional four-year term, the company announced on Monday.

Kumar, a founding member of Fonepay who originally joined as chief technology officer, has served as CEO since 2021. The board cited leadership continuity and Kumar’s more than 20 years of experience in banking technology, electronic payment infrastructure and fintech leadership as reasons for extending his mandate.

Since taking the helm in 2021, Kumar has overseen a period of rapid expansion, guiding Fonepay from an emerging payment operator to a nationwide digital payments infrastructure provider. The company credited him with leading the launch of Nepal’s first open-loop QR payment ecosystem and linking all banking and financial institutions under a single network within the first year of operation.

Under Kumar’s leadership, Fonepay expanded its product suite to include Fonepay QR, Fonepay Direct, Fonepay Bills, FoneTAG and Fonepay Credit Cards, and grew its merchant network to more than 2 million QR terminals across all 77 districts of Nepal. The company reported daily transaction volumes exceeding 2.5 million and daily transaction values surpassing Rs 15 billion. Fonepay said it processes more than 2 million transactions daily, with daily transaction values cited at over Rs 20 billion and that it commands a 96% market share in P2M QR transactions.

Fonepay said it has driven cross-border payment integration with Indian and Chinese payment networks and launched a virtual credit card in partnership with banks and financial institutions (BFIs), issuing more than 30,000 cards in about 18 months.

Commenting on his reappointment, Kumar said, “I am deeply honoured by the trust and confidence the Board has placed in me. This renewed mandate is not just a personal milestone — it is a reaffirmation of our collective belief that Nepal’s digital payments journey has only just begun. In the years ahead, my focus will be on taking Fonepay beyond being a payment network and building it into a full-stack financial platform that serves every Nepali. I am grateful to the Board, our banking partners, our regulator Nepal Rastra Bank, and every member of the Fonepay team for making this possible”

Kumar’s renewed mandate will focus on three strategic pillars: regional and cross-border payment interoperability, product ecosystem expansion, and deeper financial inclusion in underserved areas. He will also oversee Fonepay’s planned initial public offering (IPO), which shareholders approved at the company’s annual general meeting (AGM) in December 2025 and is scheduled to conclude in 2026.

Fonepay is Nepal’s Payment System Operator licensed by NRB and a flagship venture of F1Soft Group. The company operates the country’s primary QR-based payment infrastructure. It maintains cross-border partnerships that span India (UPI via NPCI International), Union Pay International, China, and global networks via Alipay+  and other global networks.