Fintech Talks: Behind The Notion of “Fintech is Boring”

Talking of fintech (financial technology) industry in Indonesia, one thing that comes to mind will be its booming popularity. If you visit our website as of March 8th, 2021, the industry’s latest news is dominating the front page, including but not limited to (another) fresh funding, business update announcement from the government-owned e-money, the milestone of a P2P lending player, and editorial signature opinion on the fintech business for payment transactions.

The existence of the fintech industry in Indonesia is said to be crucial in supporting the digital startup ecosystem acceleration. The role is considered to support startup players, from facilitating payment services, converting cash to non-cash transactions, and unlocking financial access for unbanked societies in Indonesia. The significant role has created a chunk of potential for the fintech industry.

Behind every theory, there must be an anti-theory. It also applies in the fintech industry. Behind its notion of disruptive power and meteoric growth, there is an assumption that “fintech is boring”.

DailySocial.id, through DSResearch, released the annual report about the fintech industry in Indonesia at the end of last year. Stated in the report, facts of extraordinary positive achievements by fintech companies amid economic uncertainty during the pandemic. However, how come people still thought fintech is boring? What kind of factors are in play behind this assumption?

In a casual discussion at the currently-popular app, Clubhouse, we invited well-known startup founders and investors, including Ryu Suliawan (Gojek’s Head of Merchants & Midtrans’ Founder), Antonny Liem (GDP Venture‘s Investment Partner ), Alfatih Timur (Kitabisa’s Co-Founder & CEO), Pamitra Wineka (TaniHub’s Co-Founder & President), and Aria Rajasa Masna (KaryaKarsa’s CTO) to explain the answer to these questions.

fintech-is-boring-clubhouse

“If we look at the system, regulations, and so on, it is only natural that fintech is considered boring because that is fintech. There are processes that tend to be tedious behind their roles which make it easier for startups and the market,” Liem said as he began the discussion.

From the fintech player’s perspective with experience in the payment gateways, instead of boring, Suiawan predicted that the current fintech industry will encounter a bubble moment as the finance industry is considered as a sexy business.

“In any era, when the finance industry is considered sexy, the bubble phenomenon [in the financial industry] will definitely occur and eventually explode. It has happened in the 80s, 90s, 2000s, and maybe it will also happen in this era, it [a bubble in the fintech industry] could happen soon,” he said.

The assumption does not necessarily mean that fintech is a fragile industry. The tedious process actually forms a reliable fintech industry to accelerate the digital startup ecosystem in Indonesia.

Aria said that the availability of fintech services is very much needed, even though the current business does not directly intersect with the fintech business.

“In my opinion, fintech is like infrastructure for an ecosystem. Its existence should first be built to move the industry. This is proven through KaryaKarsa. The fintech existence really helps us accelerate. For example, with the e-wallet service. Five years ago we still struggle with the manual transfer method,” Masna explained.

The above response is one of the reasons why fintech is flourishing in Indonesia. According to data compiled by the Fintech Report 2020, fintech services that serve the field of lending, both for productive and consumptive, currently have 152 players with a total loan distribution reaching 128.7 trillion Rupiah. No wonder the fintech industry is quite booming with the arrival of new players. However, what actually makes Indonesia an attractive market?

fintech-dominates-startup-fundings-indonesia

“We can start from the fact that Indonesia is one of the countries with the largest net interest margin (NIM) in the world. It is said that Indonesia’s NIM is phenomenal. I myself am not sure there isanother country with the same size that can achieve the very large NIM,” Suliawan said.

Agreed with Ryu, Pamitra Wineka, familiarly called Eka, has his own view on why fintech still holds enormous potential, even though its existence is getting saturated. As the founder of one of the leading agritech platforms, he thought the real potential area of the fintech market is far away from the downtown. As long as the infrastructure is well developed.

“We have large market potential for the fintech business, but infrastructure is the key. Currently, big players in e-wallets, such as GoPay, Ovo, LinkAja, seem to be busy competing in a small market, the big cities. Even though we know that the large market potential is in rural areas. We’ve found the fact that the area holds very large potential, but many transactions are still using cash. Therefore, it becomes potential if we can convert them to e-wallet services or similar,” he said.

Timur agreed. An important figure behind Kitabisa social platform, who is familiarly called Timmy revealed that the existence of fintech could provide a solution for the platform he founded.

“For me, fintech is important. Looking at the habit of donating which is quite driven by emotional factors than a necessity, we see that the payment issue is quite crucial. If the process is inefficient, untrusted, it can hold the benefactors. Initially, we only had a bank transfer facility with a unique code which was quite a hassle. As we implemented the e-money service, it was very helpful and the benefactors like it,” Timmy said.

Indonesia is one of the country with the largest net interest margin (NIM)  in the world. It is considered phenomenal. i myself am not sure there is other country with the same size can achieve the very large nim.

Ryu Suliawan
Gojek’s Head of Merchants & Midtrans’ Founder

By implementing fintech services, he admitted to found two interesting things. First, fintech opens up the possibility for micro-donations that drives transactions number to increase significantly. The second interesting thing, he said, is that the implementation of fintech is able to deliver a new segment of the Kitabisa platform. Electronic money services are able to invite young people to become philanthropic as the more efficient donation process.

Observing the development of fintech innovation in such a way, is it still relevant if we think fintech is boring?

“I think fintech will become boring if we only focus on building infrastructure in big cities, without focusing on developing services in villages, rural areas, and so on,” Eka explained.

Eka’s opinion serves as a warning to the fintech industry about a potential market that should be a new innovation focus.

Moreover, how should the fintech industry move forward? Both Ryu, Antonny, Aria, Timmy, and Eka agree that the future of the fintech industry depends on the support of various parties.

“In my opinion, in order to not be boring, fintech also needs support. For instance, the e-commerce industry also needed prior support from fintech, therefore, the ecosystem is getting mature. Meanwhile, in fintech, the necessary support comes from infrastructure, government regulations, and so on,” Eka concluded.

After a long discussion, I came to the conclusion that maybe fintech should be stable and be mistaken for “boring”. Fintech is infrastructure, the foundation on which many creative services of various types can focus on delivering value to their users, without busy taking care of things such as payments, consolidation, provision of capital. Also, as an infrastructure, fintech must be stable. It may seem boring at first, but to me, fintech future potential is actually wide open, very broad, and very inspiring.


Original article is in Indonesian, translated by Kristin Siagian

Bincang Fintech: Alasan Di Balik Anggapan Industri Ini “Membosankan”

Bicara soal industri financial technology (fintech) di Indonesia, rasanya salah satu hal yang bakal muncul di benak pertama kali adalah industri ini tengah booming. Jika Anda mengunjungi situs kami per tanggal 8 Maret 2021 kemarin, kabar teranyar yang datang dari para pemain fintech mendominasi halaman depan, seperti kabar tentang (lagi-lagi) pendanaan terbaru, pengumuman pembaruan layanan dari platform uang elektronik “plat merah”, berita milestone dari salah satu pemain P2P lending, hingga sajian opini khas editorial mengenai potensi bisnis fintech di ranah pembayaran tagihan.

Kehadiran industri fintech di tanah air bisa dikatakan krusial dalam mendukung akselerasi pertumbuhan ekosistem startup digital. Perannya diyakini bisa menggenjot bisnis para pelaku startup, mulai dari memfasilitasi layanan pembayaran, mengonversi transaksi tunai ke non-tunai, hingga membuka akses keuangan bagi unbanked society yang masih umum dijumpai di Indonesia. Perannya yang sedemikian rupa membuat industri fintech sarat potensi.

Di balik sebuah teori pastilah ada anti-teori. Begitu juga di industri fintech. Di balik kedigdayaannya mendisrupsi industri finansial konvensional, terselip anggapan bahwa “fintech itu membosankan”.

DailySocial.id, melalui DSResearch, akhir tahun lalu merilis laporan tahunan industri fintech di Indonesia. Di dalam laporan itu ada fakta pencapaian yang luar biasa positif di tengah ketidakpastian ekonomi di tengah pandemi. Lalu bagaimana fintech itu bisa dianggap membosankan? Faktor apa saja yang bisa membuat hal itu terjadi?

Di sesi bincang santai di Clubhouse tanggal 5 Maret 2021 lalu, kami mengajak para founder startup dan investor ternama seperti Ryu Kawano Suliawan (Head of Merchants Gojek & Midtrans Founder), Antonny Liem (Investment Partner GDP Venture), Alfatih Timur (Co-Founder & CEO Kitabisa), Pamitra Wineka (Co-Founder & President TaniHub), dan Aria Rajasa Masna (CTO KaryaKarsa) untuk mencoba menjawab pertanyaan-pertanyaan tadi.

fintech-is-boring-clubhouse

“Kalau kita lihat dari sistem, regulasi, dan sebagainya, wajar saja jika fintech dianggap membosankan, karena memang fintech seperti itu. Ada proses-proses yang cenderung membosankan dibalik perannya yang memudahkan bagi para pelaku startup dan pasar,” ujar Antonny membuka diskusi.

Dari sudut pandang pelaku fintech yang berpengalaman di bidang payment gateway, alih-alih membosankan, Ryu justru mewanti-wanti jika industri fintech saat ini bakal menemui momen bubble tatkala industri finance dipandang sebagai lahan bisnis yang seksi.

“Kapan pun eranya, ketika industri finance dianggap seksi, fenomena bubble [di industri finansial] mungkin saja bisa terjadi seperti di era 80-an, 90-an, sampai 2000,” ungkapnya.

Anggapan di atas tidak serta merta mengartikan fintech merupakan industri yang rapuh. Proses yang membosankan justru membentuk industri fintech yang diandalkan untuk secara bersama mengakselerasi ekosistem startup digital di Indonesia.

Aria mengatakan, ketersediaan layanan fintech sangat dibutuhkan, meski bisnis yang dijalani tidak bersinggungan langsung dengan bisnis fintech.

“Menurut saya fintech bisa dikatakan seperti infrastruktur buat ekosistem. Eksistensinya harus dibangun dulu buat menggerakkan industri. Ini terbukti di KaryaKarsa. Keberadaan fintech sangat membantu mengakselerasi kami. Sebagai contoh dengan adanya layanan e-wallet sekarang. Lima tahun lalu kita masih struggle dengan metode transfer manual,” jelas Aria.

Tanggapan di atas menjadi salah satu alasan mengapa fintech bertumbuh subur di Indonesia. Menurut data yang dikompilasi Fintech Report 2020, layanan fintech yang melayani bidang peminjaman, baik untuk kebutuhan produktif maupun konsumtif, hingga saat ini memiliki 152 pemain dengan total distribusi pinjaman yang mencapai 128,7 triliun rupiah. Tak heran jika industri fintech kini tengah booming dengan terus kedatangan pemain baru. Namun, sesungguhnya apa yang membuat Indonesia dipandang sebagai pasar yang atraktif?

fintech-dominates-startup-fundings-indonesia

“Mungkin kita bisa mulai dari fakta yang mengatakan bahwa Indonesia merupakan salah satu negara yang memiliki net interest margin (NIM) terbesar di dunia. Bisa dikatakan NIM di Indonesia sangat fenomenal. Saya sendiri tidak yakin ada negara dengan ukuran yang sama seperti Indonesia bisa memiliki NIM yang besar,” papar Ryu.

Senada dengan Ryu, Pamitra Wineka, yang akrab disapa dengan panggilan Eka, punya pandangan tersendiri mengapa fintech masih punya potensi raksasa, meski kini keberadaannya dirasa jenuh. Sebagai founder salah satu platform agritech terkemuka, dirinya menilai potensi pasar fintech yang sesungguhnya berada di area yang jauh dari pusat kota. Asal infrastrukturnya terbangun dengan baik.

“Kita punya potensi pasar yang besar buat bisnis fintech, tapi tetap infrastruktur adalah kuncinya. Karena kalau kita lihat saat ini, pemain besar di e-wallet, seperti GoPay, Ovo, LinkAja, seakan hanya sibuk berkompetisi di market yang sebetulnya kecil, yakni hanya di kota-kota besar. Padahal yang kita tahu potensi pasar yang besar itu ada di rural area. Fakta yang kita temukan, potensi di area itu sangat besar, tapi sebagian besar dari mereka masih bertransaksi lewat cash. Nah itu jadi potensial jika kita bisa convert mereka ke layanan e-wallet dan sejenisnya,” katanya.

Anggapan tadi diamini Alfatih, yang akrab disapa Timmy tersebut. Sosok penting di balik kehadiran platform sosial Kitabisa mengungkapkan, keberadaan fintech bisa memberikan solusi untuk platform yang didirikannya.

“Buat saya fintech itu penting ya. Melihat habit donating yang lebih didorong faktor emosional ketimbang kebutuhan, kita melihat payment issue ternyata cukup krusial. Kalau prosesnya kurang bagus, untrusted, membuat donatur jadi enggan. Awalnya kita cuma punya fasilitas transfer antar bank dengan kode unik yang cukup menyulitkan. Ketika kita implement layanan e-money, itu sangat membantu dan donatur suka,” ujar Timmy.

Indonesia merupakan salah satu negara yang memiliki net interest margin (NIM) terbesar di dunia. Bisa dikatakan NIM di Indonesia sangat fenomenal. Saya sendiri tidak yakin ada negara dengan ukuran yang sama seperti Indonesia bisa memiliki NIM yang besar

Ryu Suliawan
Head of Merchants Gojek & Midtrans Founder

Dengan mengimplementasi layanan fintech, ia mengaku menemukan dua hal menarik. Pertama, fintech membuka kemungkinan untuk micro-donation yang mendorong jumlah transaksi meningkat secara signifikan. Hal menarik kedua, menurutnya,  adalah implementasi fintech mampu melahirkan segmen baru terhadap platform Kitabisa. Layanan uang elektronik mampu mengajak generasi muda untuk menjadi filantropi karena kemudahan proses melakukan donasi.

Melihat inovasi fintech yang berkembang sedemikian rupa, lalu apakah masih relevan jika kita menganggap fintech itu membosankan?

“Menurut saya fintech akan jadi boring jika kita cuma fokus membangun infrastruktur di kota-kota besar saja, tanpa fokus mengembangkan layanan di desa-desa, rural area, dan sebagainya,” terang Eka.

Pendapat Eka menjadi peringatan bagi industri fintech tentang pasar potensial baru yang harus menjadi fokus inovasi.

Lalu bagaimana sebaiknya industri fintech melangkah ke depannya? Baik Ryu, Antonny, Aria, Timmy, maupun Eka sepakat bahwa nasib industri fintech di masa depan tergantung pada dukungan berbagai pihak.

“Menurut saya agar tidak membosankan, fintech juga butuh support. Seperti industri e-commerce misalnya, mereka juga di awal butuh support dari fintech agar ekosistemnya semakin matang. Begitu pun di fintech, support yang dibutuhkan bisa datang dari dukungan infrastruktur, regulasi pemerintah, dan lain sebagainya,” tutup Eka.

Setelah berdiskusi panjang lebar, saya mengambil kesimpulan bahwa mungkin fintech memang harus stabil dan disalahartikan sebagai “membosankan”. Fintech merupakan infrastruktur, pondasi dimana banyak layanan-layanan kreatif berbagai jenis bisa fokus mengantar value ke penggunanya, tanpa harus pusing mengurus hal-hal seperti pembayaran, konsolidasi, penyediaan modal / capital. Dan layaknya infrastruktur, fintech-pun harus stabil. Mungkin sekilas terlihat membosankan, tapi untuk saya, potensi fintech kedepannya sangat terbuka, sangat luas, dan sangat menggugah semangat.