LinkAja Prepares A Strategy to Face WeChat Pay which Officially Operates in Indonesia

WeChat Pay officially operates in Indonesia starting this month. Payment technology financial company (fintech), PT Fintek Karya Nusantara (Finarya) has prepared a strategy so that LinkAja can compete with the digital wallet from China.

LinkAja Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Aja Edward Kilian Suwignyo rate, most of the fintech payment target in the market is for lifestyles. In fact, according to him the scope that can be worked on is very broad.

“We are in the scope of daily necessities (daily essential), not lifestyle,” Edward said in Jakarta, Friday (1/17). He is optimistic, this focus helps companies compete with WeChat Pay and other fintechs.

Therefore, LinkAja provides payment services for daily needs such as transportation, refueling to merchant partners. Digital wallet is even present in the Gojek, Grab and Bonceng applications.

In addition, LinkAja payment services can be used for transportation such as Blue Bird, KAI, Trans Semarang, Damri, Railink, Garuda Indonesia, Citilink, MRT, LRT in Palembang. “Its use (usecase) for everyday life,” said Edward.

Meanwhile, WeChat Pay penetrated the Indonesian market using the CIMB Niaga Bank network. Bank Indonesia (BI) is also processing Alipay licensing so that it can operate in Indonesia.

CIMB Niaga Consumer Director Lani Darmawan explained, his company had prepared an electronic data capture (EDC) machine so that it could process payments through WeChat Pay and Alipay. “In January we set up an EDC machine,” he said some time ago.

Through this partnership, CIMB Niaga’s EDC machine can service Chinese and other tourist transactions using Wechat Pay and Alipay. In addition to CIMB, the two companies from the Bamboo Curtain country are collaborating with BCA.

“This cooperation can potentially run in the second quarter of 2020,” said Executive Vice President of the BCA Secretariat and Corporate Communication Her F Haryn.

WhatsApp Pay Will Also Enter Indonesia’s Market

In addition to WeChat Pay and Alipay, Whatsapp Pay is rumored to be present in Indonesia. WhatsApp is reportedly approaching Gopay, OVO and DANA.

DANA’s Founder and CEO Vincent Iswara once said that his company always adapts services to the needs of the community and recruits teams from local areas. This is so you can compete with fintech payments, including WhatsApp Pay.

“The particular strategy is to make payments that are suitable for Indonesian society. We believe the team and the developer are local. So I’m sure I can compete, “he said in his office, Jakarta, Thursday (11/14/2019).

As of November 2019, the DANA digital wallet is used by around 30 million users with an average transaction of 2 million per day. Vincent assessed that number showed a pretty good increase.

WeChat Pay Starts Operating in Indonesia in January, Alipay Will Soon Be Following

The payment system platform from China, Wechat Pay officially operates in Indonesia using the PT Bank CIMB Niaga Tbk network starting this month. While its competitors. Alipay is currently still waiting for approval from Bank Indonesia.

The Head of the BI Payment System Department Filianingsih said that at present his party had issued a payment system cooperation license between WeChat Pay and Bank CIMB Niaga. While Alipay licensing is still being processed.

CIMB Niaga Consumer Director Lani Darmawan explained that the company is currently preparing electronic data capture or EDC machines to be used to process payments using WeChat Pay and Alipay. As for now, it has obtained permission from Bank Indonesia related to cooperation with WeChat Pay.

Following BI’s provisions, providers of payment system services or foreign PJSPs are required to cooperate with commercial banks or BUKU 4 and use QRIS to be able to operate in Indonesia. Through this cooperation, the core capital of at least Rp 30 trillion will act as a fund manager.