Yogyakarta, July 13th 2023─The Center for Digital Society (CfDS) of FISIPOL UGM, in collaboration with the Financial Services Authority (OJK) and Fintech ALAMI Sharia (ALAMI), held the 57th Digitalk with the theme “Smart Investment Strategy: Understanding Business Risks and Opportunities in Peer-to-Peer Lending in Indonesia” at the Auditorium of FISIPOL UGM on Thursday (13/7).
The public discussion hosted by Treviliana Eka Putri (Executive Secretary of the Center for Digital Society UGM) comprehensively discussed the development of Fintech, especially peer-to-peer lending which is increasingly in demand by the public and the urgency of the education process for the community so that it can avoid the risks. The speakers presented were stakeholders and experts representing regulators, academics, and players in the financial services industry.
Tris Yulianta, Director of Financial Technology Supervision at OJK emphasized that the Indonesian people have a digital economic potential of USD 146 billion in 2025. “We present P2P Lending for our unbankable society. The emergence of P2P for the community is widely felt by MSMEs, which can be an alternative to conventional bank loans,” he said.
P2P Lending is an innovative product to overcome gap funding which causes financing facilities to be limited to certain regions and layers of society. The Fintech business target is a digitally literate society.
In line with that, Kusdhianto Setiawan, Siviløkonom., Ph.D., lecturer of the Department of Management at FEB UGM, revealed that Fintech is a business that is growing very rapidly and is starting to be in great demand by the Indonesian people. However, this has not been followed by adequate regulatory growth and financial literacy.
On the other hand, Annisa Ika Rahmawati said that Fintech P2P Lending has unique characteristics that can offer convenient solutions for the community and students to study investment. OJK emphasizes the need for supervision and regulation related to Fintech activities in Indonesia to ensure justice and protection for the community.
The convenience that is accompanied by the rise of online lending platforms presents new problems and increases negative news. Where many people are trapped in the risky financing process.
In this case, it is important to increase financial literacy for the digital community while at the same time strengthening supervision of the fintech business. The role of OJK as a regulator is needed to prevent the public from all forms of potential crime and loss when transacting or investing through the P2P Lending platform.