Overview

Indonesia presents significant opportunities in the financial technology sector based on the country’s standing as the largest economy in Southeast Asia and the fourth-most populous nation in the world. The amount of merchants who adopted QRIS as payment channel in 2021 stood at 14.78 million. In 2020, there were 4.625 billion e-commerce transactions, which reached a total value of USD 14.13 billion (IDR 204.9 trillion). According to Statista In 2021, there were 5.451 billion e-commerce transactions, combining for a value of IDR 305.4 trillion.

There were over 11.7 million fixed broadband subscribers in 2020 and about 231.24 million 4G subscribers. Financial institutions in Indonesia are increasingly emphasizing the importance of technology in reaching their financial inclusion goals among the world’s third-largest unbanked population, and often look abroad for potential vendors and partners with experience.

Based on research from FinTech Fast 101 DC released by IDC Financial Insights in 2020, the 10 fastest-growing financial technology players in Indonesia were:

•  Akulaku (e-commerce and digital financial technology)
• Amartha (micro loans in rural areas)
• Bareksa (digital mutual funds)
• CekAja (credit, investment, insurance, and lending services)
• DANA (e-wallet platform)
• GO-JEK / GO-PAY (ride share hailing and e-wallet)
•  Investree (P2P lending)
• LinkAja (e-wallet)
• OVO (e-wallet)
• UangTeman (P2P lending)

The fintech industry in Indonesia is regulated by two government entities, Bank Indonesia and the Financial Services Authority (Otoritas Jasa Keuangan, or OJK). Bank Indonesia oversees monetary policy and the payment ecosystem, while OJK oversees peer-to-peer lending, crowdfunding, digital banking, financial data security, insurance technology, and financial consumer protection. Both agencies have financial technology divisions and engage regularly with industry players and maintain long-term strategies that encourage development of the financial technology sector.

OJK launched the “Master Plan for the Indonesian Financial Services Sector (MPSJKI) 2021-2025,” this plan is expected to help overcome the short-term challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and the structural challenges in realizing a national financial services sector that is competitive, contributive, and inclusive. The key priorities covered in the master plan include strengthening the resilience and competitiveness of the financial services sector, accelerating digital transformation in the financial services sector, and the development of the financial services sector ecosystem.

MPSJKI 2021-2025 will focus on the following 5 priorities:

• Supporting the National Economic Recovery Program (OJK has extended the restructuring policy applied to debtors affected by the pandemic until March 2022)
• Strengthening the resilience and competitiveness of the financial services sector
• Developing the financial services sector ecosystem
• Accelerating digital transformation in the financial sector (OJK encourages the digitalization of products and business processes in the financial services industry, including granting permits for digital banks, focus on strengthening prudential rules for fintech P2P lending)
• Strengthening internal capacity through improvements in supervisory approached and infrastructure (OJK plans to develop integrated supervision of all financial service products, including digital products, and monitoring potential risks originating from outside the financial services sector and corporate companies)

OJK also released the 2020 – 2025 Indonesian Banking Development Roadmap (RP2I), as an answer to the challenges during the pandemic. The RP2I was developed in line with the Indonesian Financial Services Sector Master Plan 2021-2025, which had previously been launched. The RP2I contains four main pillars as a basis for the policy.The four main pillars are:

• Strengthening the structure and competitive advantage (the banking sector is expected to improve the capital structure, banking business consolidation, strengthen efficient governance, and encourage innovation and services).
• Strengthening IT management, encouraging the use of game-changers such as artificial intelligence, encouraging technology cooperation between business actors, and encouraging the implementation of advanced digital bank technology.
• Strengthening the role of banking in the national economy, which focuses on optimizing financial education.
• Strengthening of regulations, licensing, and supervision through the use of technology.

Leading Sub-Sectors

Of the 322 biggest FinTech companies, E-money digital wallets and P2P lending each account for 73 and 33 of the total being the first and second largest respectively.

E-money digital wallets: The value of e-money transactions increased by 49% in 2021 to IDR 305.4 trillion.   In Q2 of 2020, the top E-wallet players were GoPay, OVO, DANA, LinkAja, Jak One, I.Saku, Go Mobile, DOKU, Sakuku, and Paytren.

Source: Bank Indonesia (Volume in number of transactions & value in millions of IDR)

FinTech P2P Lending: As of April 2022, there were 102 peer-to-peer (P2P) lending companies, according to statistics compiled by OJK. In the face of restrictions and lockdowns brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, Indonesia has seen a surge in digital adoption among consumers and accelerated growth of both digital payments and e-commerce platforms. The rising number of digital payment transactions reflect the evolving digital financial literacy of the Indonesian population. Bank of Indonesia projects for E-money to grow 17.1% in 2022 and for Digital banking to increase by 24.8% in 2022. 

Despite significant progress in the shift towards cashless transactions, cash is still widely used and financial inclusion remains low for individuals and small businesses. In 2021, OVO is looking to expand its offerings in three major verticals: insurance, investment, and lending. OVO introduced P2P lending with Taralite after securing a license from OJK in 2020. As more e-wallet players are moving to multi-line businesses to provide financial services, it will be crucial for the industry to strengthen interlinkages among providers to foster a more seamless experience for customers.

Indonesian FinTech companies are turning financial services into an engine of economic growth, and there are rapid growths of the digital economy through a wide range of innovative financial services, especially in digital marketplaces and P2P lending. As of April 2022, there were 102 licensed P2P lending companies. Of those 102 firms, 94 were conventional P2P lenders and 8 were sharia P2P lenders. About 67.2% of P2P borrowers are in the 19-34 age group and almost 30.4% are 35-54. In terms of gender distribution, 47.2% of borrowers are women and 52.7% are men with the majority of borrowers being individuals or smaller MSMEs.

Opportunities

As the largest economy in ASEAN, Indonesia offers a very attractive market for FinTech investors, a statement that has only became more true as COVID-19 increased demands for touchless payment services and reinforced Indonesia’s financial inclusion targets. Major foreign e-wallet market players are showing a high level of interest regarding Indonesia’s digital payment market. The importance of e-Know Your Customer systems offer a good market opportunity for U.S. companies with relevant experience. Currently, the digital payment landscape in Indonesia has become fiercer and more fragmented with more than 48 licensed e-wallet platforms led by domestic players from both public and private sectors.

Resources

• Bank Indonesia
• Financial Services Authority (OJK)
• AFTECH (FinTech Indonesia)
• AFPI (Indonesian FinTech Lending Association)
• AFSI (FinTech Syariah Indonesia)

Table: Key Fintech Regulations in Indonesia

Interested parties may contact Commercial Specialist Yulie Tanuwidjaja at Yulie.Tanuwidjaja@trade.gov