“Nowadays is the first time for  Indonesia has not lagged behind other countries, namely in the financial technology industry. We have been late in developing and utilizing the Internet, dotcom, and social media. We also lost the start in developing mobile applications, but in the financial technology the position of Indonesia is in the front, “– Vincent Iswara, CEO of DANA

Time is still showing at 05.00 am when a traditional market in Balerante Village, Sleman, Yogyakarta, starts its economic. The atmosphere of the market which is located at the slopes of Mount Merapi is not much different from the atmosphere of the market in general-presents a variety of interactions and transactions carried out by traditional people. Women who wear traditional clothes organize their wares, local food products,  basic food, and agricultural products, to be bought by the local communities.

But there is something unique there. Trading activities in the market not only in cash. Some traders and buyers trade non-cash using a DANA digital wallet on their cellphones. Some traders use the transfer feature on their digital wallet to send money to suppliers to pay for goods they have ordered.

Efficiency is one of the reasons they want to transform into a non-cash culture. Another reason is the accuracy of money values for transactions. With a digital wallet, they can receive or pay an appropriate value, even with an odd amount though. No more hassles looking for a change, no party feels disadvantaged because of the change.

With the increasingly widespread use of digital wallets in Indonesia, slowly the digital lifestyle no longer belongs only to urbanites, but also to people in rural and remote areas. The story of digital transformation that began to take place among traditional communities, especially in encouraging non-cash transactions, further strengthened optimism that a new culture of economic activity would be strengthened by utilizing technology.

“Digital technology can make daily life more efficient so that people can use their time productively. Interestingly, the many uses of non-cash transactions using a digital wallets is no longer just a story of urban communities or millennia who already have high-tech literacy, but also has begun to enter into the lives of traditional societies which is often cited as one of the main challenges in realizing Indonesia 4.0” said Vincent Iswara, CEO of DANA.

Leading-edge Local Infrastructure and the Best Human Resources are the Keys to the Innovation and Global Competence Rate

Massive infrastructure development by the government was said by Vincent as the key to transformation. Indonesia is a very big country. Infrastructure development is very important to improve connectivity, equitable distribution of goods and services, and foster competitiveness between regions in Indonesia.

“Under the administration of President Joko Widodo, Indonesia has done a lot of amazing infrastructure development, such as the construction of roads and bridges, railways, airports, and ports. Another thing, the government is also boosting the development of telecommunications infrastructure through the Palapa Ring project to build a national fiber-optic network that will reach Indonesia from Sabang to Merauke, which is key to the Indonesian economy, including the digital economy,” Vincent said.

Specifically, in the digital economy, he said the development of telecommunications infrastructure and digital infrastructure has a vital role in accelerating major changes in people’s lives including increasing financial inclusion.

Referring to APJII data, the level of internet penetration in Indonesia is now above 60%. Likewise with the continued penetration of smartphones. Indonesia should be more optimistic about the increasing penetration of the Internet and other digital technologies when looking at the Palapa Ring project that will soon be realized. Moreover, Indonesia will benefit from a demographic bonus, where the composition of the population will be dominated by generations of the Internet of things that have a practical, efficient, productive culture, and rely on digital technology.

“The Palapa Ring project is the key to Indonesia’s success in entering Digital 4.0, and making the Indonesian people as digital producers, not digital consumers,” said Vincent. “It is part of the duty of local technology companies like DANA to help the government in developing digital infrastructure. We at DANA are aware that it is infrastructure that can unite us – not only connecting many people but also uniting intentions and cooperation in developing Indonesia. Not only the technology but also the human resources,” said Vincent.

He also said, it also became the foundation of DANA, Indonesia’s local startup technology company in developing solutions in the financial sector. “We present DANA as a financial technological innovation that is designed to have broad capabilities. Not only is an electronic payment instrument, but DANA was also developed as a digital transaction infrastructure for all economic actors, both consumers, business people, and financial institutions such as banks. DANA is the work, ideas, and a form of the dedication of Indonesia’s best young people, for the progress and competence of the nation and country. DANA is technology from, by, and for Indonesia,” said Vincent.

According to him, a digital transaction infrastructure that is capable and open for synergistic integration with a variety of ecosystems that has a strategic role in supporting the acceleration of digital-based national economic growth and increasing competence in the global arena, so that Indonesia can become one of the largest digital economic powers in the world in 2035.

Indonesia, one of the forefront in Financial Technology

Opportunities to be at the forefront in the world are very open to Indonesia, especially in the world of financial technology, where almost all countries have the same start. Even though China seems to be at the forefront of building a non-cash and non-card culture, nevertheless all countries are still looking for the most competitive form.

“Nowadays is the first time for  Indonesia has not lagged behind other countries, namely in the financial technology industry. We have been late in developing and utilizing the Internet, dotcom, and social media. We also lost the start in developing mobile applications, but in the field of financial technology the position of Indonesia is in the front,” said Vincent.

He even saw Indonesia as a country that is in the forefront of the financial technology industry, if you see a breakthrough from the government in issuing QRIS (QR Indonesian Standard), a standard QR code that can be used by all digital payments in Indonesia. QRIS is the world’s first standard QR code that enables interconnection and interoperability between providers of digital payment services in Indonesia.

“We are very excited to welcome QRIS and the DANA technology is ready for QRIS. The QRIS presence is in line with the DANA mission which wants to make every economic activity in Indonesia more productive and highly competitive so that the economy can develop significantly,” Vincent said.

To achieve this mission, since DANA digital wallet has been designed to provide convenience and speed, smart, accurate, and has guaranteed safety. This digital wallet is equipped with various services and capabilities to support a variety of financial transactions and the lifestyle of its users – not only for digital payment transactions, but also effective for sending money, cash withdrawal, and storing debit and credit cards. This is a breakthrough in the Financial Technology industry which was pioneered by DANA in collaboration with the banking industry.

“Through the technology and innovation that we present in DANA’s digital wallet, we want to convince the public that the era of digital technology 4.0 does not only belong to e-commerce or online businesses, but also to conventional businesses that are committed to digital transformation. With DANA, they don’t need to change their business type or business model, and no need to worry about the security to be able to go digital,” Vincent said.

Transaction Security Assurance is the Key to Trust

In addition to convenience and efficiency, safety is also a major consideration for many people who want to switch to a digital lifestyle. “Security for DANA is key and a top priority, because security is the basis for building user trust. Because the services and technology provided by DANA involve money, so even though it is easy, the solution presented must be very secure,” he said.

He explained that all DANA digital transaction infrastructure is under the supervision of Bank Indonesia and already has a PCI DSS (The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard) certification, which is a high-security standard at the banking security level. Besides, DANA also has a Data Center and Data Recovery Center in Indonesia, which is capable of handling high transaction scalability and carrying out risk management to protect users.

DANA also ensures the safety of its users by cooperating with Direktorat Jenderal Kependudukan dan Catatan Sipil (Dukcapil) Kementerian Dalam Negeri in terms of utilizing population data for the verification process of user data and service validation. “For us, collaboration with Dukcapil has a significant impact on accelerating services and anticipating data falsification efforts. While for DANA users, this cooperation can prevent them from the possibility of misuse of data by irresponsible persons,” Vincent explained.

He added, “Technically, to protect users, we also complement the DANA digital wallet with the most advanced scanning system and dynamic QR Code technology that will change in seconds.”

Vincent hopes that the security guarantee and various benefits presented by financial technology services in Indonesia, especially the DANA digital wallet, able to be a solution in increasing productivity and efficiency of the society, encouraging the strengthening of digital economic competence, to bring Indonesia to become one of the countries with the largest digital economy in the world.