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Pintek expects education loan requests to peak next month
Pintek offers loan of up to Rp 300 million to pay tuition for schools, universities and informal education and training.
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Peer-to-peer lender Pintek predicts that it will see a spike in education loan requests in September as public universities announce acceptances. (Courtesy of/dollarsandsense.sg)
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eer-to-peer lender Pintek predicts that it will see a spike in education loan requests in September as public universities announce acceptances.
The company’s cofounder and president-director, Tommy Yuwono, said private universities in Indonesia would open their second phase of enrollment for the 2020 intake within the same period.
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“Unlike other peer-to-peer lenders, most of our loan requests are cyclical according to the beginning of the new school year, which is around August and September,” he said in an interview with The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.
“This is because people prioritize education spending, even when other spending is down,” Tommy said, adding that the company had disbursed Rp 70 billion (US$4,772) since its establishment in 2018.
He added that Pintek gathered funds from banks, financial institutions and family offices, while other peer-to-peer lenders usually implemented a crowdfunding model.
“This is because tuition needs to be paid in full, otherwise the student cannot continue their education. This model is different from business borrowers in other peer-to-peer lending platforms who can still run their project even if they do not reach full funding,” he said.
Pintek offers loan of up to Rp 300 million to pay tuition for schools, universities and informal education and training. Borrowers repay their loans in six-to-12-month installments with a 2 percent interest rate.
The company also offers working capital loans, invoice financing for education institutions and is a payment partner for private schools and universities.
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Tommy said most borrowers were paying university tuition with the funds and that 80 percent of borrowers were students’ parents, as borrower needed to have a monthly income of Rp 3 million to be eligible for a loan.
Pintek plans to release a new product next month called Pinjaman Pendidikan Instan (Instant Education Loan) to allow borrowers to pay for education needs beyond tuition, such as books and supplementary study programs.
“We are also in the process of obtaining a permit from the Financial Service Authority (OJK) to create a Sharia-based product, which hopefully can be launched next year,” Tommy said, adding that the Sharia-compliant loan option would create an opportunity for Pintek to partner with pesantren (Islamic boarding schools) and Islamic universities.
