Skip to main content

Spire speaks on Digital Financial Services in Indonesia at the ITU Workshop in Geneva


As payment transactions become digitalized, it is crucial to ensure digital financial services are accessible to the poor at affordable rates and in a scalable manner. Recognizing this need, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) organized a workshop on ‘Digital Financial Services and Financial Inclusion’ for ITU member states, ICT regulators and Financial Service providers from across the globe to discuss key industry trends, opportunities and challenges at the ITU headquarters in Geneva.

Jeffrey Bahar, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the Spire Research and Consulting group, was honored to be a part of the workshop. In his presentation, Bahar highlighted initiatives by the Indonesian Government and the private sector to implement bulk payment services for beneficiaries.

Bahar mentioned the Government to People (G2P) Payment option for Program Keluarga Harapan (PKH) – the Family Hope Program – where beneficiaries are entitled to cash grants from the government through PKH. These beneficiaries are poor families who have children in school and regularly visit healthcare service facilities. Moreover, PKH offers Kartu Keluarga Sejahtera (KKS) cards – also known as Social Security Cards – which offer financial assistance to poor families via a deposit account as part of the national strategy for financial inclusion for education (Kartu Indonesia Pintar) and health (Kartu Indonesia Sehat) services.

At the same time, PKH reached its 2015 target of 3.5 million families. It has set a target to reach 15.5 million families by 2016. With 150 million active mobile phone users in Indonesia (as of 2015), this digital financial service has potential to grow much more.

On the other hand, the private sector also offers mobile money services. A joint collaboration between Standard Chartered Bank and Indosat Dompetku led to the launch of the ‘Straight2Bank’ wallet service in July 2015 for corporate clients (of Standard Chartered). This service starts at the Corporate Bank, which give loans to a cooperative. It is offered through a mobile application (wallet) platform from a Telco provider.

Interestingly, as at 2015 Indosat Dompetku had 191,000 cash in/cash out outlet points across Indonesia. Under this scheme, cash is electronically transferred to the customer’s registered mobile number, which can be checked via SMS or an e-cash menu on the mobile phone.

Nevertheless, roadblocks remain. There are limitations for the PKH program. Many beneficiaries immediately withdraw funds – which means they do not save money in the account. Moreover, telecommunication infrastructure is limited in many areas of Indonesia. The database on sectoral poverty is not unified, as in it is still controlled by multiple government agencies.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Spire speaks on ICT sector at the GATES Vietnam ICT Channel Summit in Da Nang

Spire was honored to participate in the GATES Vietnam ICT Channel Summit 2019 as Event Partner. The Summit was held on 11-13 December, in Da Nang. Japnit Singh, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Spire Group, shared his insights on scope and opportunities. Japnit discussed how the ICT sector in Vietnam holds lucrative opportunities. The country boasts the fastest growing economy in South-East Asia with around 13% GDP (Gross Domestic Product) growth for manufacturing from FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) in 2018. With the 4th fastest download speed in ASEAN, Vietnam’s digital economy continues to grow. E-commerce growth is expected to be 14% from 2019 to 2023, with 97% of online purchases executed through mobile phones. The government’s Digital Economy 2020 plan aims to promote smart cities across the country by 2030. Regulatory reform aims to ease digitization in the government and encourage local businesses to adopt technology. To that end, the government plans to is...
Post a Comment
Read more

Visualizing the future

Singapore will mark its 50th anniversary of independence in 2015. In conjunction with the country’s upcoming Golden Jubilee, Leon Perera, Chief Executive Officer of Spire Research and Consulting, shared his views in The Business Times – Views from the Top section on what Singapore’s economy and society would look like in 2065. In the future, technology would have eliminated much of the manual labor that humans perform today. Robots will revolutionize work in the home, elder-care as well as the personal services industry. Commercial space flight will accelerate the growth of globalization and enhance innovation, thanks to people being able to meet face-to-face with far less time spent in travel. On the other hand, 3D printing coupled with big data analytics will revolutionize the traditional manufacturing model of economies of scale in favor of mass customization. In addition, stricter Green and ethics regulations will foster Greener, safer and fairer processes in the work...
Post a Comment
Read more

Thailand unrest fails to deflate the Thai economy

Thailand has been beset by continuous political tension since 2008. And now, anti-government protestors vow to “shut down” Bangkok. But the protests have not derailed foreign direct investment or economic growth. Leon Perera, Chief Executive Officer of Spire Research and Consulting, shared his thoughts on the outlook for Thailand’s economy in China Daily – Asia Weekly. Despite the on-going political unrest, Thailand’s economy continues to grow steadily. One of the drivers of this growth is foreign direct investment. The Thai Board of Investment, one of the region’s most respected investment boards, has managed to maintain investor confidence thus far. However, adverse impacts have been felt on Thailand’s stock market, currency and inbound tourism during this period of intense political strife. Perera shared that the Thai tourist industry has been hit by flight and tour cancellations. Having said that, other key sectors such as chemicals, automotives, information and communica...
Post a Comment
Read more

Germany: The Eurozone’s economic powerhouse

Germany is the fourth largest global economy today. Its exports amounted to EUR107 billion in March 2015 – an all-time high since the 1950’s. Despite being the only European nation with a strong manufacturing base and rising employment rate, will Germany succeed to drive Eurozone’s stagnant economy? And what lessons does Germany’s economic success hold for the rest of the world? Germany’s resurgence With the second lowest unemployment rate in the European Union (EU) at 5.3 per cent, Germany’s economy has survived many setbacks. The economic success dates back to the Industrial Revolution due to the early adoption of coal production and rail transportation. Moreover, the fall of the Berlin Wall – the reunification of West and East Germany – and the expansion of the EU created huge market opportunities for Germany. Often regarded as the ‘Sick man of Europe’, Germany had almost lost hope of returning to rapid economic growth, undergoing recessions in 2003 and a dismal 1.2 p...
Post a Comment
Read more

Spire joins list of sponsors for Phoenix Global Chamber

The Phoenix Global Chamber aims to grow the number of people successfully engaged with cross-border trade and investment. With over 20,000 followers on its list, it strives to advance companies, careers as well as communities. Spire Research and Consulting is proud to announce its association with the Global Chamber of Phoenix as a sponsor. The Global Chamber of Phoenix, Arizona further engages leaders, companies and communities to facilitate global business growth and improve cross-border understanding. It aims to bring together like-minded people with the common mission of growing business across borders. As a sponsor, Spire will have the privilege of appearing in banner ads across the Chamber’s website, featured in regular e-newsletters and have access to speaker opportunities. Spire is proud of this new association and hopes to have the privilege of working with more Phoenix-based organizations to develop and execute their strategies in global emerging markets. This a...
Post a Comment
Read more