Indonesian debt management app Credibook raises seed money from Insignia, Payfazz

Credibook, an Indonesian digital debt management startup, said it has raised an undisclosed amount of seed funding in a round led by Insignia Ventures Partners and agent-based financial app Payfazz.

Launched in February 2020, Credibook wants to make debt management easier for small and medium-sized enterprises. In its app, merchants can record their customers’ debt and remind them to pay when the due date has passed. The startup recently launched payment features so customers can also pay their debt using the app.

Credibook will use the new funds for product development and user acquisition.

From left: Credibook’s chief technology officer Dekha Anggareska, CEO Gabriel Frans, and chief operating officer Christian Lie | Photo credit: Credibook

“I got the idea from seeing many small stalls or warung who still record their customers’ debt with pen and paper,” Credibook chief executive Gabriel Frans told Tech in Asia.

How much traction has it gotten? The company claims that it currently has more than 200,000 users from various sectors, such as warungs, laundry stores, fashion stores, construction materials shops, and automotive workshops.

It acquires users through a top-down approach, tapping into communities and distribution networks. Even though Credibook has a strategic partnership with Payfazz, Frans emphasized that his app’s users are different from the agency-based platform’s.

“We are barely starting to integrate with Payfazz,” he said. However, he didn’t deny that there is a possibility that Credibook will also tap into Payfazz’s agents.

The firm also claims that it has recorded US$350 million worth of customers’ debt, as Credibook tapped not only into the business-to-consumer market, but also into the business-to-business market, Frans said.

“For example, we also recorded merchants’ debt to their wholesalers. That’s why we can have a huge gross debt value,” he explained.

What are its future plans? Frans realized that similar apps like BukuWarung and BukuKas have also acquired hundreds of thousands of users.

However, according to him, the game is not about the number of users acquired, but how to monetize them. This is why the five-month-old startup quickly launched payment features through its partnership with Payfazz.

In the near future, Credibook also plans to launch a lending feature through a partnership with Modal Rakyat, Payfazz’s lending partner. The startup said it’s still improving the feature’s user journey and experience, but has already attracted some interest for the new service.