Credit card might be one of the most common payments for people around the world. But not for Southeast Asia. The region seems reluctant to use the installment. The use of credit card there is pretty low compared to East Asia, America or Europe. Nevertheless there are many companies that attempt to offer the payment system. One of them is a fintech startup from Indonesia, Kredivo.
Kredivo, an answer to Southeast Asia minimum penetration of credit cards
With the background as research economist and management consultant, Akshay Greg found Kredivo in 2016. He used the company as an answer to the low penetration of credit cards in the country. Instead of credit card, Kredivo offers an online credit card.
Within three years of its establishment, the company had raised $30 Million over its three funding rounds. Jungle Ventures from Singapore is one of its biggest investor. Kredivo also secures partnerships with many e-commerce platforms in the country. Including Tokopedia, Shopee, JD.id, and Lazada. The partnerships allow customers to use Kredivo while shopping in those sites.
Setting itself apart from other online credit card platforms
To penetrate the market easier, the startup company has minimum requirements for customer to use its service. The customers only need to be above 18 with a minimum IDR 3 million (around $200) of monthly wage. Only that, a Facebook account, and customer can get an online credit card account within less than 24 hours.
Kredivo also sets itself different from other online credit card platform. For instance, it sets a much lower interest than other platforms. The interest in the company is the same with other traditional credit cards which is only 2.86 percent per month. It’s way lower than other online credit cards which usually set one percent interest per day or 30% per month.
It also committed not to share customers’ personal information. Many online credit cards platform threaten their customers to share their personal information in billing. That is one of the main reasons why the online platforms are avoided by the customers.
The strategy seems to work well as Kredivo scores one million users in Indonesia. It is now the biggest online credit card platform in the country. It also reveals its plan on emerging to other Southeast Asian market such as Philippines. The country is chosen for its similarities with Indonesia.
