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GoTo floats GoPay as channel for free lunch funds
According to the homegrown on-demand services and digital payments giant, GoPay could provide a solution for streamlining government subsidies so they reach individual beneficiaries directly.
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GoTo Group executives (from left) GoPay CEO Hans Patuwo and group CEO Patrick Walujo attend a press conference on July 26, 2023 on the e-wallet’s launch at the technology company’s head office in South Jakarta. (Gopay/-)
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omegrown tech giant PT GoTo Gojek Tokopedia (GoTo) is mulling over an idea to use its GoPay e-wallet to disburse government funding for president-elect Prabowo Subianto’s free school lunch program.
The plan would be to channel subsidies directly to the intended recipients using Gopay and quick response (QR) codes to streamline transfers and purchases.
“Imagine if the government provided the subsidy directly to individuals instead of products,” GoTo CEO Patrick Walujo said on Saturday, as quoted by Bisnis.com.
“For instance, someone with a GoPay account could receive a few hundred thousand rupiahs for free lunch, fuel, electricity and more. They could spend it using a special QR code,” he continued, suggesting that the digital wallet could be used for other subsidized programs.
Distributing government aid this way could reflect market prices without disrupting industries and help maintain market prices for energy products like fuel and electricity, Patrick added.
Read also: GoTo to buy back shares worth $200m amid plunging stock price
Patrick said he and his team visited a free lunch pilot project in Sukabumi, West Java, with the aim to identify potential pitfalls in the program’s rollout at state schools nationwide.
