Tokopedia’s P2P lending arm, 9 others get license from Indonesia’s OJK

The Indonesian Financial Service Authority (OJK) has granted operating licenses to 10 peer-to-peer (P2P) lending startups including Dhanapala, the lending arm of homegrown unicorn Tokopedia, in April 2021.

Tokopedia co-founder and CEO William Tanuwijaya / Photo credit: Tech in Asia

The new license will pave the way for Tokopedia to expand its lending service, Modal Toko. Through this feature, which is available on Tokopedia’s app, sellers can get a capital loan of up to 200 million rupiah (around US$14,000).

According to its website, Dhanapala has disbursed almost 100 billion rupiah (US$7 million) to more than 8,000 borrowers.

Other startups that received OJK operating licenses include Payfazz’s loans unit Modal Rakyat and education-focused fintech firms Cicil and Pintek as well as 360 Kredi, Kredinesia, Solusiku, Cairin, TrustIQ, and Klik Kami.

OJK has granted licenses to 56 firms to date, with 90 other registered players still awaiting for it. Registered P2P lending companies have to apply for the license after operating for a year; otherwise, their registered status will be revoked. Meanwhile, players with an operating license can hold it indefinitely.

Some companies that are still under the registered status are ShopeePayLater (PT Lentera Dana Nusantara), ecommerce firm Shopee’s loans unit, and Tanifund, the lending platform of agritech startup Tanihub.