The airasia Super App, a digital venture of Capital A, completes its ASEAN expansion plans for 2022 with its official launch in Indonesia, focusing on Bali as a key international tourist market. The app was launched in Malaysia back in October 2020, and subsequently in Thailand and the Philippines, in February and April this year respectively. It has an integrated Online Travel Agent (OTA) platform where users are able to book flights from over 700 global carriers and stay at over 700,000 hotels worldwide. Users will have access to online duty-free shopping on the platform with options for purchases to…
Author: Fintech News Indonesia
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United Overseas Bank (UOB), in partnership with Personetics, announced the launch of Auto-Save, on the TMRW mobile banking app in Indonesia today at the Singapore Fintech Festival 2022. Powered by Personetics’ Artificial Intelligence (AI) and advanced data analytics solutions, the banking app is aimed at helping UOB’s customers in Indonesia to “save more effortlessly.” The Auto-Save feature will slowly be rolled out in stages to all of UOB’s key markets in the ASEAN region, including Singapore. Auto-Save can analyse and predict each user’s past, current, and future spending behaviors, income, and daily transactions to find “safe-to-save” money, the portion in…
Southeast Asian open finance platform Brankas and credit solutions provider CRIF have launched the New Evaluation Open Suite (N.E.O.S), a credit scoring system which analyses alternative data sources. Under the partnership, Brankas will enable the collection of bank statement and other data sources, and CRIF will then apply its machine learning algorithm to the data to generate a credit score. Among the 400 indicators used by N.E.O.S to understand a customer’s spending behaviour are data on groceries, bill payments, investments, memberships, insurance, loan repayments, and subscriptions. Brankas and CRIF say that these alternative indicators were developed to provide applicants with…
Singapore-based insurtech firm bolttech announced it has completed the acquisition of a majority shareholding in Axle Asia, an established insurance broker in Indonesia. Axle Asia will become a subsidiary of bolttech and be subsequently rebranded. Srinath Narasimhan, General Manager for bolttech in Indonesia, will oversee the growth of bolttech in Indonesia with the addition of Axle Asia. bolttech said the addition of Axle Asia will accelerate the deployment of its insurance exchange capabilities and complement its existing presence as a device protection provider in Indonesia. With a global footprint of 30 markets across three continents, North America, Asia, and Europe,…
GajiGesa, an Indonesian Earned Wage Access (EWA) platform, has announced the launch of its services on WhatsApp to provide workers access to their earnings in real-time. Through GajiGesa’s platform, employers can allow their employees to access a portion of their salaries as they earn it, in real-time, between traditional end-of-month pay cycles. Users can get started by sending a WhatsApp to GajiGesa from their registered mobile number. The intuitive interface guides users through a quick onboarding and allows them to start transacting securely. With this launch, GajiGesa claims to be the first and only employee wellness and financial benefits company…
Alipay+, a suite of global cross-border digital payments and marketing solutions, has included Indonesian fintech Akulaku’s Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) solution among its supported digital payment methods. This partnership will allow Indonesian consumers to use the Akulaku PayLater solution at Alipay+’s global merchants. Launched in 2016, Akulaku PayLater has already onboarded 4,000 merchants and aims to serve 10,000 online merchants and over 100,000 offline stores over the next two years. The platform’s BNPL functionality provides individuals who have limited credit history with access to a convenient line of credit as well as manageable installment plans. Akulaku and Alipay+ are…
Indonesian e-commerce platform Bukalapak and Standard Chartered announced that they have officially launched their digital banking service BukaTabungan. BukaTabungan is now available on Google Play Store and will soon be available on the App Store. The offering leverages the reach of Bukalapak’s all-commerce platform and the technology of nexus, a Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) solution powered by Standard Chartered. BukaTabungan, a service within Bukalapak’s platform, will offer banking services that are inclusive, easy, and secure to its ecosystem of over 110 million users and 20 million business owners, enhanced by a completely digital, non-face-to-face onboarding experience. Using advanced automation and security technologies…
East Ventures, an Indonesia-focused venture capital firm, announced the appointment of Avina Sugiarto as a Partner at the firm. Avina joined East Ventures as a Venture Partner in January 2022, where she brings 12 years of experience in investing across alternative assets including venture capital, private equity, private credit and more across industries. East Ventures said that Avina’s presence has made the venture firm step up its commitment towards sustainability. One of the initiatives in line with this commitment include East Ventures signing the Principles for Responsible Investment supported by the United Nations, Women with Impact Forum, and the inaugural…
Kini, an Indonesian on-demand payroll provider, raised US$4.3 million in a seed funding round led by East Ventures, with participation from other investors. The firm will allocate the fresh funds to continue building out its HR-fintech product suite as well as invest in expanding enterprise partnerships and HR tech providers. Kini provides on-demand payroll services, also referred to as earned wage access, to give employees access to cash, bill-pay services, as well as features including micro insurance. The platform also offers additional tools for companies to help manage their workforce, including instant disbursement of incentives or allowances, discount vouchers, communications, payroll…
Indonesian insurtech Rey Assurance announced that it has secured US$4.2 million in seed funding to advance its digital health products and technology platform. The funding round was joined by Trans-Pacific Technology Fund (TPTF), Genesia Ventures, and RDS. Rey said that it will be launching a new suite of outpatient and inpatient products that has received approval from the Indonesian insurance regulator, Otoritas Jasa Keuangan (OJK). The new products will enable Rey’s customers to personalise services with the level of coverage that best matches their needs. Rey’s products are linked to the company’s proprietary cashless claims system, eliminating the tedious admission and…
Indonesian social commerce startup Mapan announced it has closed a US$15 million Series A funding round. The round was co-led by Patamar Capital and PT Astra Digital Internasional, a subsidiary of PT Astra International, with participation from BRI Ventures, SMDV, Blibli, Prasetia Dwidharma, and global venture capital firms Flourish Ventures and 500 Global. With this fundraise, Mapan said that it will now look towards growing their core “Arisan” service through expanding their product range and partnering with suppliers. An aspect of Indonesian culture, Arisan is a form of informal social gathering, where members will take turns to purchase products for…
Indonesia’s Finantier was one of the five open banking startups from around the world join Mastercard’s new Start Path Open Banking programme. Other companies handpicked for this inaugural class include Dapi, mmob, Mono and Paywallet. These five companies will join the network of more than 300 startups that have participated in the Start Path startup engagement programme. They will have an opportunity to engage with Mastercard’s ecosystem of banks, merchants, partners and digital players across the globe to deliver and scale open banking solutions. Today, Start Path alumni are entering the public markets, reaching unicorn status and pursuing extended commercial…
Flip, Indonesian consumer payments platform, announced a second close of a Series B funding round that brings its total funds raised to more than US$100 million. The round was led by Tencent with participation from Block, Inc. (formerly Square, Inc.) and existing investor Insight Partners. Other angel investors who participated in the fundraise include Guillaume Pousaz, Founder & CEO of Checkout.com, through Zinal Growth; Gokul Rajaram, Executive at Doordash and Board Member at CoinBase and Pinterest; and Michael Vaughan, former Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Venmo. This new funding comes on the heels of Flip’s first US$48 million Series B round…
Indonesian digital investment app Bibit announced that it has raised more than US$80 million in a funding round led by GIC, joined by Prosus Ventures and other existing investors. Bibit said that the funds raised will be used for the launch of new products and services as well as tech development. The company will also be hiring local talent and strengthening its financial education programmes to create awareness among the general public. Stockbit launched Bibit in early 2019, to enable its users to invest in diversified asset classes. In the past year, Bibit has launched Stockbit Sekuritas, an e-IPO feature that…
Xendit, an Indonesian payment gateway for businesses, announced that it closed US$300 million in a Series D funding round, bringing its total funds raised to US$538 million. Coatue and Insight Partners co-led the round with additional investment from Accel, Tiger Global, Kleiner Perkins, EV Growth, Amasia, Intudo, and Justin Kan’s Goat Capital. Xendit has been making strategic investments that serve startups and SMEs in Southeast Asian countries. The company recently invested in Bank Sahabat Sampoerna, a private bank in Indonesia that focuses on MSMEs, as well as banking-as-a-service for technology-enabled businesses. To complement its expansion into the Philippines, Xendit also…
Indonesian insurtech startup Qoala announced that it has successfully raised US$ 65 million in a Series B funding round led by European investment firm Eurazeo. With the new funds, Qoala aims to add over 250 employees this year with a focus on building an engineering and product management hub in Gurugram, India. Qoala also plans to grant employees with equity compensation and give them the right to acquire shares in the company. The company distributes retail insurance products to consumers through its omnichannel platform. It also provides several innovative micro-insurance products through its partnerships with Traveloka, Redbus, DANA, JD.ID, Shopee,…
Investree, an Indonesian B2B marketplace lending platform for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), is set to acquire an 18.4% minority stake in PT Bank Amar Indonesia, a licensed commercial bank with the backing of Singaporean conglomerate Tolaram. By acquiring a significant minority stake in Amar Bank, Investree it believes that its efforts to increase financial inclusion can be accelerated. With this move, Investree intends to develop financing products and offer broader digital business solutions to elevate the operational level of MSMEs across the country. Adrian Gunadi, Co-founder and CEO of Investree said, “This initiative is part of creating…
East Ventures, an Indonesia-focused venture capital firm, has raised a total of US$ 550 million in the final close of its latest funds. The venture firm said that it will allocate US$ 150 million for early-stage deals and US$ 400 million for growth-stage deals. The VC reported that it has experienced significant growth in its portfolio, with more than 200+ startups from seed to growth stages. East Ventures is managing over U$1 billion AUM and attracted US$ 6.7 billion in follow-on funding for the portfolio companies. It has also recorded more than US$ 86 billion of annualised GMV in aggregate…
Funding Societies, Southeast Asian SME digital financing platform also known as Modalku in Indonesia, announced its investment into Indonesia’s Bank Index alongside Carro, a Southeast Asian automotive marketplace platform. This move signals Funding Societies’ entry into the neobanking space. With a focus on SME banking, Bank Index is a privately-owned national bank with a nation-wide footprint of 53 offices networks in major commercial areas across Jabodetabek, Java, Sumatra, Bali and Batam. Bank Index also conducts business across a range of commercial supply chains while offering mobile and internet banking services to its clients. Funding Societies provides digital financing services, where…
The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) Innovation Hub and Bank Indonesia has launched the third G20 TechSprint Initiative, focused on developing new solutions for central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). The initiative will be one of the side events of Indonesia’s G20 Presidency. The G20 TechSprint Initiative 2022 is a “hackathon” that invites global innovators to develop new solutions for issuing and distributing CBDCs. The BIS Innovation Hub and Bank Indonesia have published three problem statements in the following categories for the 2022 TechSprint. The first would be to build effective and robust means to issue, distribute and transfer CBDCs as there…