NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Wednesday, April 12, 2017

Indonesia – the largest economy in the south east Asian region – is betting on the great big fintech opportunity riding on its demographics and unbanked population. Indonesia, which has already seen the emergence of 130 fintech companies, is expecting this number to double in a year with $3.6 billion worth of transactions on this model over the next one year, deputy director of OJK, the financial services regulator, Pak Tuahta Aloysius Saraguh, said in an interaction. Pak Aloysius has been instrumental in encouraging the Fintech industry in Indonesia.

With only 36% of Indonesia’s adult population having formal bank accounts, much lower than the number of mobile phone owners, the future of Indonesia’s financial inclusion, will rely heavily on its digital transaction facilitated by mobile gadgets.

Even the nascent venture capital industry in Indonesia is undergoing a change with recent regulations encouraging more local venture capital companies to set shop in the country, he added.  Recently, two local venture capital companies, Dana Mandiri Sejahtera and Reliance Venture Capital, formed Indonesia’s first venture fund as well. Banks too, are coming out with VC arms, with Bank Negara Indonesia likely to follow suit after Mandiri Capital and BCA.