TheJakartaPost
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Indonesian fintechs look to greener fields abroad for continued growth
As Southeast Asian fintechs expand across borders to tap into the region's enormous growth potential, an industry insider has cautioned that “the grass is almost never greener on the other side”.
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Stock illustration of fintech (Shutterstock/File)
P
ressure from venture capital firms is pushing Indonesian fintech start-ups to expand in the region for continued growth, but an industry insider has told The Jakarta Post that international expansion was not without its risks.
The fintech industry in several Southeast Asian countries has been growing rapidly, offering a broad range of services that include remittances, payment gateways, consumer loans and equity crowdfunding.
Indonesia has long been identified as one of the most promising markets in the region thanks to its large and young population, but after years of rapid domestic growth, some firms are looking for greener pastures overseas with untapped potential.
One of these firms is buy now, pay later (BNPL) service provider Kredivo.
“The growth potential of the [BNPL] industry is predicted to be US$25 billion,” Kredivo marketing and communications vice president Indina Andamari told the Post, although she noted that the growth rate varied significantly between different markets.
Indina, citing an InfoBrief report from the International Data Cooperation (IDC) commissioned by credit card service company 2C2P, said that BNPL users would “increase 8.7-fold in Indonesia and 23-fold in Vietnam by 2025”.
She said that Kredivo’s motivation for expanding abroad was the large number of people in ASEAN that lacked access to banking services.
