The transaction volume for e-money, which ranges from debit cards and credit cards to other forms of e-money, such as BCA Flazz and e-wallets GoPay and OVO, skyrocketed 204 percent from January to date, higher than 89 percent in Yogyakarta and 75 percent in Jakarta, which rank second and third respectively in transaction volume.

At 81-year-old local grocery store Baji Pamai, three electronic data capture (EDC) machines that handle debit and credit card transactions sit by every cashier stand to serve customers as they check out.

“Alhamdulillah [thanks be to God], this shop that my grandfather inherited can compete with minimarket and supermarket chains that have besieged Makassar,” said owner Ivan Surianto Tranku. “More customers shop with electronic money now, compared with cash. It’s much more practical for them.”

Apart from retail and food and beverage vendors, the aggressive e-money growth in Makassar this year occurred thanks to transactions in transportation and social aid disbursement, according to BI South Sulawesi payments system manager Maudy Halim.

Provincial toll road operators Bosowa Marga Nusantara and Jalan Tol Seksi Empat implemented in November last year the compulsory usage of e-money cards to pay for all toll roads in South Sulawesi.

BI’s headquarters also bolstered last year a program on transferring government social aid, specifically for the Family Hope Program (PKH) and non-cash food assistance program (BPNT), using cashless transactions.

“In South Sulawesi, the growth in electronic transactions is quite significant. In Makassar city there are also several electronic transaction programs, with e-budgeting and e-parking,” Maudy said as reported by bisnis.com.

The move toward e-money is crucial for Indonesia should it reach its 75-percent financial inclusion target, as policymakers and industry players increasingly rely on financial technology.

Today only 68 percent of Indonesians have access to finance, according to Financial Services Authority (OJK) data.

Following the arrival of on-demand service apps Gojek and Grab in 2015, the use of their respective e-wallets GoPay and OVO has become more prevalent. State-owned telecommunications operator Telkomsel’s LinkAja is also gaining traction.

“The use of GoPay for services outside Gojek increased more than 20 times in the past 1.5 years,” said Gojek head of corporate communications Winny Triswandhani, adding that the use of GoPay went beyond transportation and food payments, extending into other purchases such as bills. GoPay can be used for payments with Gojek partners, 70 percent of which are micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

Research conducted in 2018 by the demographic institution of the University of Indonesia’s Faculty of Economics and Culture showed that Gojek contributed Rp 1.7 trillion (US$120.1 million) to South Sulawesi’s economy.

Endang Kurnia Saputra, head of the advisory group and economic development at BI’s South Sulawesi office, echoed the research results. He said the increased use of e-money could bolster economic growth by way of accelerating the circulation of money.

“Transactions between traders and farmers are sped up with electronic money because they can be done without having to [physically] go somewhere else,” said Endang Kurnia. “The South Sulawesi people’s adoption of digital technology has been speeding up, especially in Makassar.”

BI’s South Sulawesi office predicted economic growth in the region to reach between 7 and 7.4 percent, beyond the nation’s overall economic growth target of between 5 and 5.1 percent.

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