Indonesian online lender Finmas secures P2P license

Indonesian firm Finmas has officially obtained a business license as a fintech lending platform from the country’s Financial Services Authority (OJK).

Finmas director of compliance Reza Pratama (second from left) receives the fintech license from OJK on Friday / Photo credit: Finmas

With its new status as a licensed P2P lending firm, Finmas said it will continue to innovate, collaborate, and integrate new services for Indonesian consumers, merchants, and small- and medium-sized businesses.

It will also pursue new partnerships with various businesses and organizations across Indonesia, including retailers, ecommerce firms, financial services institutions, industry associations, and government agencies.

In its 12 months of operations, Finmas claims its app has been downloaded by over 4.5 million users and has served over 1.2 million borrowers. It launched its mobile app in February to enable its users to apply for a cash loan whenever they need it for tuition, household expenses, consumer goods, emergencies, or business, among others.

Finmas is a collaborative venture by local conglomerate Sinar Mas and Hong Kong-based financial services provider Oriente, which also operates Philippine fintech firm Cashalo.

Oriente was founded by Skype co-founder Geoffrey Prentice in 2017, along with two other co-founders. It raised US$105 million in a series A round from Malaysia’s Berjaya Group, the Philippines’ JG Summit Holdings, and Sinar Mas last year.

Aside from Finmas, the OJK also issued licenses to five other fintech firms recently, namely Modalku (aka Funding Societies), KTA Kilat, Kredit Pintar, Maucash, and KlikACC. They join the seven startups that received licenses in August. To date, there are 13 out of 127 registered fintech companies that have successfully obtained licenses from the OJK.