Vinmo Enlivens the EWA Industry, Offers Faster Salary Disbursement Services

Vinmo adds to the ranks of earned wage access (EWA) players operating in Indonesia, in an effort to reduce employee dependence on interest-bearing online loans.

This startup was promoted by three founders, including Kristoforus Giovanni, Adhi Pranata, and Sastra Hamidjaja, with a background of experience that supported each other in pioneering the presence of Vinmo.

Kirstoforus, for example, used to be an HR Manager who witnessed the phenomenon of employees who need emergency funds and apply for cash payments on a daily basis.

Even the company could not help them because of the rules and bureaucracy that took a long time, even if they were approved. As for Sastra, he has worked for several foreign companies that implement EWA and he was inspired to bring it to Indonesia, without disturbing the company’s cash flow.

Comes With Kasbon Branding

Kristoforus said that Vinmo was present in the midst of rampant illegal online loans and people needed money to pay for urgent needs. Many people thinklessly take loans to online applications without paying attention to high interest rates.

“We have to work hard to educate the public, especially HRD and the finance department in the company to understand the EWA system,” he said.

In this regard, his party introduced itself to the public with digital kasbon branding, not EWA. EWA is indeed considered a new term that describes Vinmo’s main business, but the word is less familiar to Indonesians.

Therefore, the use of the word digital kasbon is expected to be more accepted. “But because now is the digital age, Vinmo is here as a digital cash register.”

Like most other EWA players, Vinmo is focused on providing employees with early access to salary so that they are more prosperous. The company does not position itself as a lending company because there are no payment terms, interest fees, guarantees, credit checks, or late fees.

Employees who use Vinmo are only charged an administrative fee of 3% when making disbursements. Kristoforus said that the difference between Vinmo and other players is transparency and in terms of refunds, Vinmo offers a longer payment period and more flexible transaction fees.

“So that the company’s cash flow is not disrupted, the source of cash funds is taken from Vinmo. When payday arrives, the Vinmo team will provide data to HRD regarding the use of Vinmo facilities and the amount that must be paid by employees to deduct their salaries.”

How Vinmo Works

For the salary disbursement process, companies are required to become partners in Vinmo and register their employees. Next, employees simply download the Vinmo application, fill in the data, and wait for verification.

After that, the funds will be transferred to the account according to the data filled in based on the application submitted within 1×24 hours.

As of now, since Vinmo started operating in September 2021, it is claimed that 30 companies have joined and more than 1,000 employees have downloaded the Vinmo application. “Our target this year is to reach 100 companies to work with.”

This target will be pursued by various marketing strategies and the development of new innovations for applications. Among them, the addition of new features, such as e-wallet, digital payment, and digital aggregator. Thus, the Vinmo application can meet all employee payment needs, not just faster salary access.

“There are so many companies in Indonesia and not all of them are handled by EWA. Our strength as a local company is an added value because we really understand the attitude, habits, and history of Indonesians.”

As is known, the opportunity for EWA to grow in Indonesia is still very large because it has many problems, especially from the payroll system which is an issue for most workers.