As Indonesia’s fintech industry continues to grow, consumers have benefited from the rise of mobile wallets, as such as Go-Pay, Ovo and Dana, which have been trying to outdo each other by providing cashback for users on countless products and services both online and offline.
In another move that will likely ensure the continuation of the promo wars between e-payment services, the Indonesian government is also getting in on the act by launching their own mobile wallet, LinkAja, which is scheduled for launch in early March.
According to reports, LinkAja is set to be a giant in the mobile wallet game as it combines existing e-payment services provided by three of the nation’s state-owned banks, namely Bank Mandiri’s e-Cash, BRI’s T-bank, BNI’s Yap!, as well as state-owned telco Telkomsel’s T-Cash.
“We hope that, in early March, we will be able to launch it,” State Enterprises Minister Rini Soemarno said today when asked about LinkAja’s status, as quoted by Detik.
“Why have different systems? Why not unify and make them more efficient and reach all of Indonesia? That’s what we’re hoping for from LinkAja.”
The government has touted the QR code-based LinkAja as a possible rival to Go-Pay and Ovo, both of which dominate the mobile wallet industry in Indonesia.
In a recent report by research and advisory firm RedSeer, the market size for e-payment services in Indonesia is US$1.5 billion in 2018 and is expected to rapidly grow to US$25 billion by 2023. Go-Pay, which is integrated into local ride-hailing app Go-Jek, leads the way in mobility payments while Lippo Group’s Ovo is the leader in offline purchases.
