Southeast Asia’s largest economy faces a major obstacle to going cashless: The majority of its citizens don’t have bank accounts, which means they generally rely on cash for transactions.
But one of Indonesia’s start-ups says it’s confident of further catalyzing the adoption of e-payment systems in the country.
Go-Jek, a tech “unicorn” reportedly valued at about $3 billion, comprises a ride-hailing, logistics and e-payments business. Those functions will work together to boost the firm’s effort to move cash into digital value, the start-up’s CEO and co-founder, Nadiem Makarim, told CNBC.
“All of our drivers right now in the network — we have about 850,000 registered drivers — can accept cash to top up people’s Go-Pay accounts,” Makarim said, referring to the firm’s e-payment platform.
Both drivers and riders have an incentive to use the e-wallet: A customer who tops up their Go-Pay account receives discounts for future rides, while their driver gets a points bonus.
The system allows unbanked customers access to the digital wallet, a Go-Jek representative said. The process will even expand to include Go-Jek’s partner restaurants, Makarim said.
