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LinkAja launch delayed until after Idul Fitri, more SOEs to join
'It is not because of our lack of readiness, but we want to launch it in a gala event.'
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A woman shows the LinkAja electronic money logo displayed on her smartphone. (tribunnews.com/File)
T
he ceremony to launch LinkAja, a financial platform established by a number of state-owned enterprises (SOEs), has been delayed until after the Idul Fitri holiday in June. It was initially planned to have been launched this month.
“The launch will be implemented after Lebaran [Idul Fitri]. It is not because of our lack of readiness, but we want to launch it in a gala event,” said state-owned lender PT Bank Mandiri's corporate secretary, Rohan Hafas, on Sunday as quoted by kontan.co.id.
Bank Mandiri was one of the leading initiators behind LinkAja.
He said LinkAja had been in operation since February and already had some 5 million users.
Meanwhile, Bank Mandiri president director Kartika Wirjoatmodjo, who is also chairman of the State-Owned Lenders Association (Himbara), said the launch would be held in the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium in Senayan, Central Jakarta.
Meanwhile, the SOEs Ministry's undersecretary for financial service business, survey and consultancy services, Gatot Trihargo, said more SOEs like flag carrier Garuda Indonesia, toll road operator PT Jasa Marga and state-owned railway operator PT Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI) planned to participate in the application, which is operated by PT Fintek Karya Nusantara (Finarya).
“We will open the door for other SOEs to contribute by injecting capital [into PT Finarya],” said Gatot on Sunday.
Currently, the shares of PT Finarya are fully owned by PT Telkomsel, a subsidiary of state-owned telecommunications company PT Telkom Indonesia.
Initially, only PT Bank Mandiri, PT Bank Negara Indonesia, PT Bank Rakyat Indonesia, PT Pertamina, PT Bank Tabungan Negara and PT Asuransi Jiwasraya had expressed a commitment to own shares of the company.
Kartika said LinkAja also planned to expand its business to become a platform for peer to peer (P2P) lending. He explained that currently PT Finarya only had a permit issued by Bank Indonesia to issue electronic money (e-money).
To become a P2P lending platform, the company needed to obtain a permit from the Financial Services Authority (OJK). “The P2P lending service is a long-term plan. It could operate in the second half of 2020,” Kartka added. (bbn)
