GoPay is top e-wallet choice for Indonesians even without promos, study finds

Consumer demand for digital payments in Indonesia has reached a level where the importance of promotions for user retention might be waning, a study found.

Banners showing payment apps’ cashback promos at a Jakarta mall / Photo credit: Tech in Asia

According to a survey conducted by market research firm Ipsos, which was commissioned by Gojek, digital wallets have become an “indispensable convenience” for users in the country.

Of the 500 millennials and Generation Z respondents surveyed from December 20, 2019 to January 5, 2020, about 68% said they use digital wallets at least once a week, with 32% indicating they use cash less frequently. Consumers mainly use digital wallets to pay for transportation (40%) and food delivery services (32%).

The report, titled “The Evolution of the Digital Wallet: Driving the Next Wave of Growth,” also said that while 71% of respondents were initially motivated to use digital wallets because of promotions, 68% chose convenience as the main driver for using e-wallets. Promos are the secondary driver (23%), followed by security (9%).

About 54% of the respondents said they would still use Gojek’s GoPay even without promotions, topping local competitors such as Dana, LinkAja, and Ovo. GoPay also has the biggest market share (60%) in Indonesia.

“We also find that consumer loyalty to continue using digital wallets without promos depends on the quality of digital wallet services,” said Ipsos Indonesia’s customer experience research director Olivia Samosir. “For example, GoPay has the highest organic consumers because consumers think that GoPay is superior in terms of safety, practicality, innovation, customer service, and can be accepted everywhere.”

Ovo, however, emphasized that its service is the most often used digital payments platform in Indonesia, citing market research conducted by Kantar in Q4 2019.

Data from the report showed that 54% of Indonesians use Ovo to conduct payments in modern retail and micro, small, and medium enterprises. The company also said that throughout last year, it saw a 70% annualized increase in Ovo cashless transactions.

According to data from Bank Indonesia obtained by Tech in Asia last year, Ovo was also the country’s top e-wallet service based on transaction values. It accounted for 37% of total digital payment transaction values in the first six months of 2019. Meanwhile, GoPay took up 17%.

Bank Indonesia spokesperson Onny Widjanarko declined to comment on the figures, saying that the central bank “has never issued or published individual data.”

In response, GoPay’s head of corporate communications, Winny Triswandhani, said, “It is not clear what methodology was used here, but it does not tally with most research available in the market that shows GoPay to be the largest provider of digital payments in Indonesia.”

Update (February 17, 10 am): This article was updated to include comments from Ovo.