Asian countries have been a hotbed of peer-to-peer lending investments these past few years. In countries like China and India, P2P lending platforms are ubiquitous; in China alone, it was estimated that there were more than 4,000 P2P lending platforms in 2017.
Around two years ago, the relatively new lending method, in which an online platform acts as a matchmaker between borrowers and lenders (or commonly coined as “investors”), also started gaining traction in Indonesia, an archipelago of more than 260 million people. With platforms promising to bypass traditional intermediaries like banks, peer-to-peer lending is quickly becoming more and more popular with Indonesians.
Today, Indonesia has around 85 P2P lending platforms catering to consumer and business needs as well as offering alternative investment opportunities to Indonesia’s growing middle class. But especially worth noting are online lending platforms that target Indonesia’s 58 million units of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs). The MSMEs make up 99.9% of the total business entities in the country and employ 114 million people. Last year, the sector contributed more than 61% to Indonesia’s GDP.
Among the P2P lending platforms that target Indonesia’s MSMEs is MEKAR (PT Mekar Investama Sampoerna). In early 2017, MEKAR started offering microlending services to small business owners in many regions throughout Indonesia, advancing financial inclusion for the underbanked population of the country by making it easier for them to access funding, something they have not been able to get from traditional banks and financial institutions.
For investors, the platform offers a solid annual return of 10% up to 16%, much higher than what investors can earn from their bank savings account or time deposit. But what sets MEKAR apart from other major P2P lending players in Indonesia is a 100% guarantee of principal that every investor in the platform gets when they make their investment. This guarantee is provided by MEKAR’s lending partners, two major savings and loan cooperatives with operations in a total of 11 provinces in Indonesia.
The security guarantee and MEKAR’s strong commitment in providing value-creating and socially impactful investment opportunities are what attract Indonesian investors, young and old alike, to MEKAR in droves. As of January 2018, investors in MEKAR have funded more than 12,600 micro loans. MEKAR is targeting to fund 50,000 micro loans worth Rp 150 billion this year.
Want to know more about MEKAR and peer-to-peer lending investments in Indonesia? Visit https://mekar.id today.