Gojek Participates in LinkAja’s Fintech Capital Injection

Decacorn in the country, Gojek invests in the financial technology (fintech) payment company LinkAja. In November last year, Grab also injected capital into this state-owned fintech. Through this investment, Gojek will become part of LinkAja’s series B preferred stock owner. The total commitment from the funding is more than US$ 100 million or around IDR 1.4 trillion.

“As two leading national companies, this collaboration provides an opportunity to combine the technological strengths and broad reach of each company,” said Gojek Co-CEO Andre Soelistyo in a press release, Tuesday (9/3).

Andre said this investment adds payment options on the platform, apart from GoPay. So far, GoPay has served the needs of the retail and business sector in Indonesia, especially Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).

Gopay Transactions Increased Since 2020

Based on data released by Gojek in November 2020, GoPay transactions were recorded to have increased 2.7 times compared to 2019. Donation transactions reached IDR 102 billion during the pandemic. This e-wallet also recorded a 2.7-fold increase in transactions on the PayLater feature.

Meanwhile, the donation feature has doubled. Then, transfer services via GoPay increased 3.2 times in 2020. Meanwhile, the tipping feature for Gojek driver-partners reached IDR 308 billion. However, Gojek also wants to expand the reach of users through the LinkAja platform.

Moreover, this red-plate fintech focuses on payment for public services, retail, and daily necessities. In addition, 80% of users are from tier two and three cities.

“With LinkAja as a strategic partner, we hope to reach more consumers and businesses with various business scales, and provide them with additional convenience and comfort in transactions,” he said.

LinkAja CEO Haryati Lawidjaja said the investment was further validation of the company’s growth. “Through this strategic partnership, we hope to have a bigger and broader impact on the Indonesian economy,” he said.

The LinkAja service has actually been available on the Gojek application since 2019. LinkAja recorded transaction growth more than quadrupled last year. The number of users also grew 65% to more than 61 million.

“The business run by LinkAja can survive, even increase in various lines,” said Director of LinkAja Haryati Lawidjaja as quoted from a press release, last January (13/1). LinkAja also recorded a five-fold growth in the number of sales partners last year.

To date, the company has hooked up more than 900 thousand local merchants. In November last year, Grab also invested in LinkAja. This Singapore-based Decacorn leads LinkAja’s series B funding with a total commitment of around US$ 100 million (IDR 1.4 trillion).

Digital Banks Supported by Gojek Intensively Finances Fintech

The presence of digital banks is said to be a competitor to financial technology (fintech) startups. However, the digital bank supported by Gojek, namely Bank Jago, chose to aggressively hook up fintech financing (lending).

Bank Head of Business Partnership, Jago Sonny Christian, said that the company is actively engaging in fintech lending to reach consumers who are difficult to reach by banks. “This is to have a bigger business scale,” he said in a webinar entitled “Fintech 2021”, Tuesday (9/3).

He stated that fintech is not an opponent for digital banks. “We are sure that the bank’s collaboration with fintech can complement each other,” said Sonny. Digital banks excel in terms of liquidity. Meanwhile, according to him, fintech is more agile in reaching customers who are difficult to reach by banks.

Sonny did not specify the number or name of the fintech companies he was hooked on. However, in November 2020, Bank Jago collaborated with Akulaku Finance Indonesia to provide financing through a channeling scheme. Bank Jago is committed to providing funding of IDR 100 billion to Akulaku at this time. This fund is to increase lending to users.