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Cashless payment, for all its convenience, cause for concern among Jakartans
BI data show that the number of e-money users from nonbank issuers in the country has reached 113.5 million, which compares to 60.3 million users of e-money issued by banks.
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No cash needed: Sutariyah, a 36-year-old food seller, prepares a dish for a customer at her food stall located in front of Al-Azhar University in Kebayoran Baru, South Jakarta, on Friday. Her food stall accepts cashless payment methods such as Go-Pay, OVO and OttoPay. (-/-)
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ashless payment systems have become extremely popular lately, as they provide ease and comfort compared to traditional cash payments. However, they have also generated concern among users over potential disruption of electronic transactional systems.
App-based transactions make everyday life less stressful for Nia Rakhmayanti, a 25-year-old student from Depok.
“I left my wallet at home some time ago. However, I did not feel as terrified as I used to, because now, as long as I bring my mobile phone, I can easily ‘survive’ without my wallet,” she told The Jakarta Post on a recent Sunday.
She also shared her friend’s experience with cashless payments: “A friend of mine even only realized that she had lost her wallet two days later, because she always used cashless payments through her mobile phone to pay for her daily needs.”
However, after hearing about the rise of digital fraud, Nia only keeps a relatively small amount of money in her electronic account, also known as digital wallet or e-wallet. “One of my friends got scammed and lost Rp 300,000 (US$21) from her e-wallet several years ago, since then I never put a lot of money in my digital wallet,” she said.
Siti Khasanah, a housewife from South Jakarta who frequently uses e-money because some public places and facilities in Jakarta no longer accept cash, said she would never go fully cashless because of several concerns.
“I have to use an e-money card issued by a state bank to pay tolls. However, recently, I had to use an e-money card from another bank to buy an entry ticket to the Ragunan Zoo, because the zoo only accepts electronic payments from that specific bank,” she told the Post, adding that she also had to use QR payments, because certain malls in the capital required them to pay parking fees.
