Closing the Gap
According to World Bank, in the year of 2014, only around 36 per cent of Indonesians that are connected to formal financial institutions. With 203 million or 81.5 per cent of the country’s population living at the bottom of the economic pyramid, those who are living below the living standard are in the need of access to financial services in order to find opportunities to improve their lives and their communities.
While SMEs play a vital role in the Indonesian economy, contributing close to 58% of GDP and employing more than 97% of workers, many of them misses the opportunities to grow their business due to the lack of access to the capital. They’re unable to receive the funding they need, hence are facing difficulties to increase their productivity, including hiring new employees. This too have knock-on effect throughout the economy, considering that 99.9% business in Indonesia are SMEs. Availability of appropriate finance is essential to ensure that businesses can achieve their potential and contribute to Indonesia’s economic future.
Now here’s where fintech companies jumps in to save the day, as it can close the funding gap between the wealthy businessmen and the small businesses. By providing short-term loans, small businesses can receive the financial support they need to get ahead in a competitive landscape.
Nursing the Nation’s Economic Growth to Full Bloom
Among many fintech companies that have sprung up in the past few years, Mekar, Indonesia’s first online lender for small business finance is here to help nudge the nation’s economic growth to full bloom.
With its set of technology solutions, such as web-platform, delivered over mobile and agent networks, Mekar aims to provide financial services where everyone, including the disadvantaged and lower income segments of society, can easily access.
Since 2012, Mekar has helped over 800 small businesses and SMEs to grow and eventually improves social and economic conditions of a large number of people in Indonesia.
Mekar believes that unlocking the potential of the unbanked is not only important for humanitarian reasons, but also for the economic and business opportunities. Because the purchasing power and ability to get credit of the unbanked can transform communities, empower individuals, and most importantly change the path of the global economy.
MEKAR differs from other P2P lenders in that it aims to make positive impact for children, women, and elders, as well as businesses that revolve around food production, education, health, and waste recycling. So in short, not only it can help to improve the living standards of many people, but also can help to elevates Indonesia’s economic growth into full bloom.