University rector Sutrisna Wibawa, tongue firmly in cheek, made the announcement in a post on Twitter by posing like K-Pop group BTS in a recent advertisement for online marketplace Tokopedia. 

Bayar UKT di UNY sekarang bisa lewat Ovo dan Tokopedia.

Salam dari Sutrisna, bukan personil BTS pic.twitter.com/zj611DgkTH

— Sutrisna Wibawa (@sutrisna_wibawa) February 18, 2020

“It’s just the rector’s spontaneous idea to inform our students of our newest tuition payment method,” UNY staff member Ilham Dary Athallah told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.

“The reason is simple: easy and at the same time beneficial, thanks to the cash back facility,” Sutrisna said in a statement.

The program, he said, was offered in collaboration with Tokopedia, state lender Bank Tabungan Negara and e-wallet provider OVO.

“With just few clicks, our students can now make their payments quickly and easily,” Sutrisna said, adding that if e-wallets could be used for high schools, then there was no reason they could not be used for universities, referring to homegrown startup Gojek’s recently announced partnership with education institutions.

He added that in certain situations, the students could also receive cashback from either Tokopedia or OVO on their respective payment platforms.

“The university would still get the full payment, but the students would be subsidized by Tokopedia and OVO,” he added.

Tokopedia and OVO are now used as a payment channel for students to pay their tuition fees.

BTN Yogyakarta branch manager Donnie Iskandar said that apart from OVO, BTN and Tokopedia also offered other payment options such as payment via bank account, credit card or even through convenience stores like Alfamart and Indomaret.

He said the funds collected through the different channels would be managed by the campus through BTN.

“This definitely makes it easier for millennial students to pay their tuition and at the same time, improves UNY’s image as a university that supports digitalization,” Donnie said.

To pay their tuition through Tokopedia, students only need to click the Biaya Pendidikan (Education Fee) category, then find Universitas Negeri Yogyakarta. Once they input their student ID number, the application will show their tuition fee along with a choice of payment methods.

“Tokopedia is already connected to OVO. Students just need to type in their PIN. The balance will automatically be deducted and the payment is done,” Sutrisna said, adding that his institution was ready to collaborate with other digital platform and e-wallet providers. (kmt)