Abdi Kerta Raharja Partners Up with Mekar to Boost Micro Financing for MSMEs

Tapping into the huge potentials of financial technology, the Abdi Kerta Raharja credit cooperative has taken a significant step forward and is now collaborating with Mekar (PT Sampoerna Wirausaha) as a lending partner. The two companies took this bold move in a bid to significantly increase access to financing for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in the country and foster economic growth.

Indonesia currently has 58 million MSMEs. They bring substantial contribution to the national gross domestic product at 60%, according to data from the Cooperatives and Small and Medium Enterprises Ministry. Unfortunately, a majority of them still lack access to financing.

Mekar provides a solution to this problem by developing an innovative peer-to-peer lending platform that uses technology to connect MSMEs in need of financing to investors looking for an easy, safe and profitable way to invest. Mekar uses an online platform, Mekar.id, where anyone can choose from an extensive list of small business loans to finance and earn an average of 10 percent a year, a much higher yield than a bank deposits.

Abdi Kerta now joins the prominent list of Mekar’s lending partners, following the path of other leading cooperatives such as Koperasi Mitra Dhuafa (Komida), Maestro and Sahabat Mitra Sejati. As a lending partner in Mekar, Abdi Kerta will select from its borrowers those to be featured online on Mekar.id. Investors can finance these small business loans simply by registering on the website.

Abdi Kerta will also provide investors with a 100% capital protection guarantee which protects their investment. As a lending partner, the cooperative will be responsible for the collection and repayment of the loans. In this they are very good, with 99.4% of their borrowers paying on time.

With this partnership, Abdi Kerta will benefit from Mekar’s technology expertise and quickly finance their members’ small business loans by securing financing from more than a hundred registered investors in Mekar. Meanwhile, the small business loans from Abdi Kerta will allow investors in Mekar to have more loan options to choose from and diversify their investment.
As a peer-to-peer lending firm, Mekar will be able to tap into a larger network of MSMEs through the new collaboration with Abdi Kerta, which has more than 56,000 members, of which some 17,000 are microloan borrowers.

The Abdi Kerta Raharja cooperative was established in 2009 and is based in Tangerang Regency of Banten. As of December 2016, the cooperative has disbursed more than Rp 25 billion in loans. Its NPL rate has remained low at 0.57%.

For more information, visit Mekar.id and koperasi.abdikertaraharja.co.id.