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Hello reader,
I consume lots of Western media, especially those from the US. As such, I often hear about how student loan debt can be crushing at times.
It’s gotten so bad that the collective student loan debt in the country tripled over the last 15 years, from US$619 billion in 2008 to US$1.77 trillion this year.
Naturally, I’m grateful to live in a place where I wouldn’t be buried under this liability for basically my entire life. University fees in Singapore may not be cheap by some measures, but at least they’re somewhat manageable, with decent avenues for financing and repayment.
In Indonesia, one of these avenues is Julo, which recently entered the student financing sector. The fintech platform already has an arsenal of services, but let’s see if this new one will be up to scratch.
Today we look at:
- Whether Julo can cut it in student financing
- Foodpanda’s new interim CEO for the Malaysia unit
- Other newsy highlights such as a grant for an Indian nonprofit as well as a Singaporean AI firm coming out of stealth mode.
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Where others fear to tread
Image credit: Timmy Loen
Several players have already exited Indonesia’s student financing sector, but Julo is going balls to the wall and making a grand entrance through Julo Education. The firm believes that this will give it a foothold in a market that has substantial growth potential. True or not? Let’s find out.
- Big dreams: The product aims to serve over 50 million students across more than 250,000 educational institutions in the country.
- Promising future: According to group president Ankur Mehrotra, Julo Education has become one of the largest non-cash spend segments for users. The non-cash segments make up the majority of transactions on Julo’s platform.
- A big test: That said, the issue could lie within the market itself. According to interviews Tech in Asia previously conducted, many respondents said they didn’t fully understand the long-term financial implications of taking on educational loans. Some also didn’t believe they could pay off the debt eventually.
Read more: Can Julo’s 2 million users help it succeed in Indonesia’s student financing industry?
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