Author: Fintech News Indonesia

Venture capital (VC) firms Gobi Partners and Ozora Yatrapaktaja have partnered to launch a US$10 million seed fund for women-led startups in Indonesia, called the Ratu Nusa Fund. The fund will support seed-stage and pre-Series A companies focused on health tech, e-commerce/social commerce, future of work/education, proptech, enterprise/SME tech and fintech. It will also focus on companies that improve the livelihoods of women and girls across Indonesia; underserved companies that reside in emerging secondary and tertiary cities such as Surabaya, Bali, Denpasar, Nusantara and Medan; as well as companies that leverage technology to broaden access and have the potential to…

FinAccel Teknologi Indonesia, a directly controlled subsidiary of FinAccel which is the parent company of Kredivo, has announced the acquisition of a majority stake in Bank Bisnis Internasional, an Indonesia Stock Exchange-listed entity. At the end of the acquisition process, slated for completion at the end of this week, FinAccel Teknologi Indonesia will own 75% of Bank Bisnis, with the Suriadi family, the previous majority owners, still retaining a significant minority stake. All regulatory approvals for this acquisition have been obtained, including from Indonesia’s Financial Services Authority (OJK). FinAccel said that this acquisition represents a very significant step in its…

Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI) has set out to make credit card applications and management seamless and convenient for its customers. The move is timely as this particular cashless payment method showed a 500% increase in 2020 during the pandemic. BRI’s customers can now open new accounts digitally and this is not only limited to digital savings accounts but also for credit card applications. This is thanks to its data-based BRI Credit Card mobile app where customers can easily manage their cards. The app features the customers’ card usage information, transaction statements, historical billing statements and other information related to their…

wagely, an Indonesian financial wellness platform, announced that it has raised US$8.3 million in an oversubscribed pre-series A funding as the company scales its platform to help workers access their earned salaries on demand in Indonesia and Bangladesh. The funding comes in just seven months after securing its seed funding and brings its total funds raised to US$14 million in less than two years. The oversubscribed round was led by East Ventures (Growth Fund) with participation from existing backers, including Integra Partners, the Asian Development Bank, Global Founders Capital, Trihill Capital, Blauwpark Partners, and 1982 Ventures. wagely also disclosed that…

Indonesia’s GoTo Group announced its plan to carry out an initial public offering (IPO) on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX). The IPO is expected to raise proceeds of at least IDR 15.2 trillion (US$1.1 billion) plus an additional IDR 2.3 trillion (US$160 million) should the greenshoe option be exercised. The listing will be the first to be carried out under the new regulations on multiple voting shares set out by the Otoritas Jasa Keuangan (OJK), as well as the new listings regulations set out by the IDX. The company intends to offer 48 billion Series A shares which may be…

FinAccel, the parent company of Indonesian Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) platform Kredivo, has scrapped its plans to merge with VPC Impact Acquisition Holdings II (VPCB), a publicly traded special purpose acquisition company sponsored by Victory Park Capital (VPC). Unfavorable market conditions was cited as the main reason for the mutual termination of the deal that valued the combined companies at approximately US$2.5 billion. Concurrent with the agreement to terminate, VPC is leading a US$145 million private structured investment in Kredivo. Kredivo said that it plans to consider offers to participate in such private investment round from investors who held…

AirAsia announced that it has rolled out a marketplace for financial products called ” airasia money” in Indonesia. Integrated within the AirAsia superapp, airasia money is a marketplace for financial products that offers a wide range of affordable financial offerings such as insurance, investment opportunities, remittances and social fundraising while also educating its user base. AirAsia has partnered with a number of financial platforms in Indonesia such as PasarPolis, Bareksa, Rumah Zakat and Wise prior to this launch. The airasia money marketplace was first launched in Malaysia last year with continued expansions into other markets in the region. Nadia Ikrana…

Bank Neo Commerce (BNC), an Indonesian digital bank that is a subsidiary local Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) player Akulaku, has witnessed strong growth last year. Previously known as Bank Yudha Bhakti, the neobank launched its services back in March 2021. In the fourth quarter of 2021, BNC reported that it daily active users (DAU) reached 1.8 million, an increase of 112% compared to the third quarter. Meanwhile, its Monthly active users (MAU) reached 4.83 million, an increase of 27% compared to the previous quarter. BNC’s userbase had also increased to 13.3 million customers as of 2021 year end. Additionally,…

Indonesian insurtech firm PasarPolis announced the appointment of Rajesh Kumar as its Chief Technology Officer (CTO). PasarPolis said that Rajesh’s extensive experience with nearly two decades in the technology sector with global brands including Amazon and MakeMyTrip, makes him a welcome addition to the leadership team. The firm added that his commitment and strategic approach to tech development aligns with its objectives as PasarPolis continues to progress and fast track its innovation throughout Southeast Asia’s insurtech ecosystem. PasarPolis provides a seamless UX design of the entire purchasing, policy administration, claim, and customer support experience. The insurtech has served around 80…

Indonesian open finance platform Ayoconnect announced that it has closed a US$15 million series B financing round led by Tiger Global. The round was joined by PayU, the payments and fintech business of Prosus, and Alto Partners, as well as individual strategic investors, including Plaid’s co-founder William Hockey and Jerry Ng, President Commissioner of Bank Jago. Ayoconnect said that it will use the funds to continue launching new products and increase its capacity so it can absorb accelerating demand. In the first half of 2022, Ayoconnect will launch a direct debit service in Indonesia which will automate recurring payments directly…

The Financial Services Authority of Indonesia (OJK) has strictly prohibited financial institutions from marketing or facilitating the trading of crypto assets. The regulator warned that the value of crypto assets are subject to market fluctuations and investors should be mindful of the risks associated before they invest. OJK added that investors should also be aware of crypto investment ponzi scheme scams without elaborating further. The regulation and supervision of crypto assets is carried out by the Commodity Futures Trading Supervisory Authority (Bappebti), not by OJK. The Ministry of Trade has plans to set up a crypto exchange by the first quarter…

Bank Indonesia (BI), the country’s central bank, has launched its first real-time payments infrastructure BI-FAST that is driven by ACI Worldwide, a global provider of real-time payments and digital payment solutions. BI-FAST is an integral part of Indonesia’s ongoing digital modernisation initiative and central to its Payment System Blueprint, IPS 2025. IPS 2025 aims to transform the country’s payment infrastructure, integrate its digital economy, and finance sector, and respond to public demands for a fast, easy, safe, affordable and reliable payment system. Bank Indonesia and ACI were able to implement BI-FAST in less than nine months and aims to incorporate…

Pluang, an Indonesian all-in-one fractional investing app, announced that it has raised US$55 million in a funding round led by venture capital firm Accel. This is a follow-on round to its previously announced Series B, pushing its total investment to US$110 million. Additional investors in Pluang’s latest round include Trung Nguyen, Andy Ho, Aleksander Leonard Larsen, and Jeffrey Zirlin (Axie Infinity founders), Alexa von Tobel (former Learnvest CEO), Daniela Binatti (Pismo CTO), Sujata Bhatia (Monzo COO), Jannick Malling and Leif Abraham (Public.com co-CEOs), Raghu Yarlagadda (FalconX CEO), Sergio Jimenez (Flink CEO), The Chainsmokers, BRI Ventures, Gold House, as well as…

KoinWorks, an Indonesian neobank focused on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), has secures US$108 million in a Series C funding round which consists of US$43 million in equity and US$65 million in debt capital. The round was led by MDI Ventures, the corporate venture arm of Telkom Indonesia with participation from previous equity investors such as Quona Capital, Triodos Investment Management, Saison Capital, ACV and East Ventures. KoinWorks said in a statement that the funds will be used to scale its solutions and team as the company aims to hire 400 new employees globally. The company provides SME owners and…

Crypto exchange platform Binance has established a joint venture with a consortium led by MDI Ventures to develop a new Indonesian-based digital asset exchange. MDI is a US$830+ million multi-stage venture capital arm of Indonesia’s largest telecoms company, Telkom Indonesia. Binance will provide its asset management infrastructure and technology to support the development of the new exchange platform. The company said that the consortium has collectively developed the biggest digital and financial technology ecosystems in Indonesia, and has access to more than 170 million consumers in the world’s fourth most populous country. The news comes on the heels of Binance’s…

UOB’s mobile-only banking solution TMRW announced the launch of TMRW Pay, an e-commerce loan that enables consumers in Indonesia to manage their budgeting needs. TMRW Pay offers consumers deferred payment services, with zero interest for up to 90 days and instant credit approval through TMRW’s partner, Bhinneka’s website and app. Bhinneka is an online-to-offline e-commerce platform in Indonesia that has more than one million monthly active users and 70,000 unique products listed. UOB said that its data showed that more than half of the transactions on the TMRW credit cards were for e-commerce purchases from January to October 2021. The bank…

GajiGesa, an Indonesian employee management and wellness platform offering Earned Wage Access (EWA) and other financial services, has closed an oversubscribed US$ 6.6 million (IDR 94.5 billion) in pre-Series A funding. The round was led by MassMutual Ventures, with participation from new investors including January Capital, Wagestream, Bunda Group, Smile Group, Oliver Jung, Northstar Group partners including Patrick Walujo, Nipun Mehra (CEO of Ula), and Noah Pepper (Head of APAC at Stripe), amongst other prominent angels. Existing investors including defy.vc, Quest Ventures, GK Plug and Play, Next Billion Ventures also participated in the round. The team said that it intends…

Indonesian digital wallet OVO, has collaborated with financial marketplace Bareksa and Bahana TCW Investment Management to launch its first fixed income product. The Bahana MES Syariah Fund Kelas O is said to be offered exclusively on the OVO app as part of the e-wallet’s investment vertical. This is the latest addition to a range of affordably priced digital financial offerings on the OVO platform, all of which are available with a minimum buy-in of IDR 10,000 (US$ 0.70) and seamless buy-in using the e-wallet’s payment capability. OVO said in a statement that it is well placed to drive grass-roots investment…

Indonesian B2B e-commerce marketplace Ula announced that it has secured an additional US$23.1 million funding in an extension of its Series B funding round from American investment firm Tiger Global. Binny Bansal, co-founder of Flipkart also participated to complete Ula’s funding round. The fresh fund infusion follows the US$87 million previously announced in October in a round co-led by Prosus Ventures, Tencent and B-Capital, who were joined by Jeff Bezos’ Bezos Expeditions, Northstar group, AC Ventures and Citius. With a total Series B funding of US$110 million, Ula said that it will continue to invest in geographic, product and team…

As one of South East Asia’s most valuable digital ecosystems, Indonesia is home to some of the region’s most well-known fintech unicorns. Indonesia is considered a crown jewel for any fintech players who are serious about dominating the ASEAN fintech scene. However, cracking the Indonesian market is no easy feat whether you’re a local champion or global player. Hear from industry insiders to get a sense of the Indonesian fintech scene, opportunities and challenges. The state of fintech in Indonesia Regulatory landscape Gaps, opportunities and challenges Confirmed Speakers Iwan Kurniawan, Co-Founder & COO at Modalku Diego Rojas, Co-Founder & CEO…