Grab is Southeast Asian biggest unicorn. Not only ride hailing, it has its own cashless payment system with GrabPay. But in Indonesia, it is in partner with Ovo. Instead of GrabPay, Grab connect customers Ovo account to their Grab account. Allowing them to pay Grab using the digital wallet.
Ovo is Indonesia’s biggest virtual wallet. Way over its competitors such as Dana and might only be at league with Go-Pay, Go-jek‘s internal digital wallet. The company is a subsidiary from VisioNet, a digital company established in 2006 in the country.
Ovo, a giant of 115 million users
Though it has grown very big, it has only been around for less than two years. And within the two years, it gained 115 million users only in Indonesia. Recently, it introduced a PayLater feature.
The feature is available starting from May 10 after its’ initial announcement last January. It is targeting another million users by the end of 2019 using PayLater.
Pay Later offers an easy online application, instant confirmation and minimum interest. As a promotion period, there are no interest for transactions done up to June.
Previously, Ovo attracted many users for practicality and discounts it offered. The digital wallet is not only available for Grab, but also payments on physical stores. There are more than 200 merchants in partner with the company including Miniso, big supermarket and food stores.
The system is very similar with Alibaba’s Alipay. It uses QR codes to transfer an account balance for a payment. The feature is the first in the country. And not only for paying merchants, user can use it to transfer their account balance to other account too.
Though with 115 million users, there are still many rooms for Ovo to grow. According to Abraham Viktor, its Head of Strategy and Innovation Lab, 80% of Indonesian has no access to digital wallet. And Ovo is a way to grow financial inclusion in the country.
