Technology-based financial services or what we usually call as fintech, a portmanteau for financial technology, have been mushrooming across Indonesia in recent years. Many of these fintech startups on the rise offer peer-to-peer lending services, connecting lenders (or investors) with borrowers using technology by running an online platform that is accessible to anyone.
Seeing the upsurge of startups in this sector, the Financial Services Authority (OJK), the industry regulator, has laid out a regulation in a bid to protect consumers of the P2P lending business. The OJK regulation no. 77/POJK.01/2016 sets out a range of comprehensive guidelines for the providers of P2P lending services, from minimum capital requirement, restrictions on foreign share ownership, a cap on loan size, to the establishment of a mandatory escrow account.
Read also: Indonesia’s Peer-to-Peer Lending Market Is Now 1 Year Old, The Next 2 Years May Be Tougher
Article 16 of the regulation also states that, not only individuals can be lenders; companies and other legal entities can also finance a loan using the P2P lending scheme. This means a company, an organization, or other kinds of institutions can benefit from the peer-to-peer lending services by investing money to fund a loan through a P2P platform.
One such platform is managed by Mekar (PT Sampoerna Wirausaha), which invites companies and other establishments to join its list of institutional investors in Mekar’s P2P lending platform https://mekar.id/en.
As an innovator in the financial technology space, Mekar is subject to the OJK regulation, which applies to all fintech companies and players in the peer-to-peer lending sector in Indonesia. In line with its overarching commitment to the protection of its investors and borrowers, and in its continuous efforts to abide to existing laws, Mekar has now applied to register with the OJK as a fintech company that offers peer-to-peer lending services. The registration process is expected to conclude in October when Mekar will be officially registered and licensed at the OJK.
Mekar, a financial services provider, has long established a close relationship with the OJK and other regulatory bodies. Mekar’s business model, which targets the micro loan segment, is aligned with one of OJK’s mission to improve financial inclusion in Indonesia. This is why Mekar strives to always build a good rapport with the OJK.
Although it can be said that Mekar is quite new to the peer-to-peer lending sector, it is also considered as one of the most important players. Hence, Mekar is often trusted by the government with the responsibility to speak at panels and discussions about the fintech scene and the peer-to-peer lending scheme. One of those occasions was at a discussion hosted by Bank Indonesia a few weeks back, attended by fishermen and fish farmers from the Thousand Island regency in North Jakarta and officials from the local administration. In the event, Mekar talked about its investment services in peer-to-peer lending and how the investment has been very beneficial in supporting the growth of MSMEs in many regions in Indonesia.
Mekar does all this to give a sense of security and comfort to the investors who are registered in its P2P lending platform. This is in line with Mekar’s commitment to protect its investors.