Fintech

An increasingly prominent and disruptive force in the financial services sector, financial technology (fintech) comprises any innovative or technology-based financial service offered to consumers or businesses. Often viewed as a competitor to traditional financial service providers, fintech fills gaps left by the formal sector, offering an important avenue to boost financial inclusion in a country where smartphone and internet penetration rates are rising quickly, even as much of the population remains unbanked. Supported by rapid expansion of e-payment platforms and peer-to-peer (P2P) lending activities, Indonesia’s fintech industry is in the midst of a period of significant growth. P2P lending recorded a triple-digit increase in 2018, while e-payment services have grown more than six-fold since 2012, prompting a surge of new foreign investment into a vibrant and increasingly diverse start-up community. This chapter also contains interviews with Aldi Haryopratomo, CEO, GO-PAY, and Jason Thompson, CEO, OVO.