Fintech
From The Report: Indonesia 2020
View in Online Reader

Indonesia’s financial technology sector is one of the most dynamic and competitive in the world, as evidenced by the emergence of four unicorn companies – start-ups valued at over $1bn – and one decacorn, valued at over $10bn. These new tech giants include one digital payment firm, OVO, while the rest offer a number of integrated payment options in e-commerce, ride hailing and delivery services, and travel bookings. Surrounding them is a fast-growing ecosystem that is helping expand financial inclusion to previously underserved segments of the population. Investment comes from a range of domestic and international sources, both public and private. Global backers, including Google and China’s Ant Financial, have entered into joint ventures in Indonesia. This chapter contains interviews with Reynold Wijaya, CEO and Co-Founder, Modalku; and Vincent Iswara, CEO, DANA.

Articles from this Chapter

Overview

Greater access: Backed by sensible regulations, Indonesia’s tech giants are helping to expand financial inclusion
OBG
plus

Indonesia’s financial technology (fintech) sector is one of the most dynamic and competitive in the world, as evidenced by the emergence of four unicorn companies – start-ups valued at over $1bn – and one decacorn, valued at over $10bn. These new tech giants include one digital payment firm, OVO, while the rest offer a number of integrated payment options in e-commerce, ride-hailing and delivery services, and travel bookings. Surrounding them is a fast-growing ecosystem that is helping…

Interview

Synergy creation: Reynold Wijaya, CEO and Co-Founder, Modalku, on harnessing technology to enhance financial inclusion and mitigate risk
OBG
plus

Interview:Reynold Wijaya How do you foresee blockchain and distributed ledger technology impacting financial inclusion? REYNOLD WIJAYA: Blockchain related technologies, if utilised properly, will help enhance access to financial services by enabling transparent and accurate banking transactions. These will serve as a source of legitimate underwriting, particularly for underbanked and underserved segments of the population. However, despite these apparent benefits, it is still too early to…

Analysis

Digital alternatives: Cashless options provide new ways to reach the unbanked population and encourage growth opportunities for fintech firms
OBG
plus

The role of cash is declining in Indonesia, due in large part to the significant growth of online payment choices. This comes as the Covid-19 pandemic has encouraged more people around the world to opt for cashless transactions to limit the spread of the virus, a trend that may continue to boost cashless transactions in Indonesia and other countries in the coming years. While the state is not actively pursuing the goal of a completely cashless society, it sees great potential in digital alternatives…

Interview

Efficient transactions: Vincent Iswara, CEO, DANA, on the development of cashless payment technology and its benefits
OBG
plus

Interview:Vincent Iswara How do you foresee the evolution of the cashless payment market in Indonesia? VINCENT ISWARA: At the moment there are more than 100 registered and licensed peer-to-peer lending companies operating across the country. They have an important role to play in creating a financially inclusive society, which is one of President Joko Widodo’s key aims. Approximately 170m out of 260m people already have internet and data access, but 75% are either unbanked or underbanked…

Overview

Competing coins: A new proposed digital currency is pushing central banks to respond to technological disruptions
OBG
plus

The first cryptocurrency transaction in history was feted in just two words: “Running Bitcoin”, which came in the form of a tweet on January 11, 2009 by Hal Finney, a US software developer. Some 10 years and over 1600 initial coin offerings later, the world of crypto-, virtual and other digital currencies looks to have provoked an active response from financial sector leaders. However, this was sparked not by an entity with an established cryptocurrency profile, but by social media giant Facebook. In June 2019 the company introduced its digital currency Libra. Initially set to launch the following year, Facebook announced in March…

Overview

Competing coins: A new proposed digital currency is pushing central banks to respond to technological disruptions
OBG
plus

The first cryptocurrency transaction in history was feted in just two words: “Running Bitcoin”, which came in the form of a tweet on January 11, 2009 by Hal Finney, a US software developer. Some 10 years and over 1600 initial coin offerings later, the world of crypto-, virtual and other digital currencies looks to have provoked an active response from financial sector leaders. However, this was sparked not by an entity with an established cryptocurrency profile, but by social media giant Facebook. In June 2019 the company introduced its digital currency Libra. Initially set to launch the following year, Facebook announced in March…