{"id":11734,"date":"2026-01-15T07:55:40","date_gmt":"2026-01-15T07:55:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tradepassglobal.com\/?p=11734"},"modified":"2026-01-15T07:55:43","modified_gmt":"2026-01-15T07:55:43","slug":"compete-or-collaborate-wfis-explores-indonesias-banks-and-fintechs-in-the-digital-age","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/43.205.9.160\/vi\/compete-or-collaborate-wfis-explores-indonesias-banks-and-fintechs-in-the-digital-age\/","title":{"rendered":"Compete or Collaborate? WFIS Explores Indonesia\u2019s Banks and FinTechs in the Digital Age"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Indonesia\u2019s banking story is being re-written by regulators, investors, industry giants, fintech institutions, and millions of young, tech-savvy, digital-first consumers reshaping how money moves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Further pushed by global players eyeing the largest economy in Southeast Asia, Indonesia\u2019s fintech services market was valued at about USD 8.6 billion in 2024, and is further <\/strong>projected to reach USD 32.5 billion by 2032. Such rapid growth was possible due to several factors \u2013  <\/strong>accelerating smartphone penetration, supportive regulatory reforms, an <\/strong>expanding digital infrastructure and increased availability of fintech platforms \u2013 all of which make one thing clear: FinTech is outpacing the country\u2019s traditional banking sector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

To sum it up briefly, Indonesia\u2019s traditional banks have historically been slow in keeping up with fintech innovation. Many large banks were built on legacy systems, branch-heavy models, and risk-averse approaches; who struggled to deliver user-friendly apps, fast loan approvals, or innovative products. This created a huge gap in meeting evolving customer expectations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Such gaps were therefore filled in<\/em> by fintech start-ups, who provided various digital financial services such as e-wallets, peer-to-peer lending, buy-now-pay-later schemes and more, through platforms like GoPay, OVO, Dana, ShopeePay, and others. Since these services were mobile-first and user-friendly in design, and made for low-ticket, everyday transactions, their growth outpaced banks significantly. At USD 8.6 billion, <\/strong>Indonesia\u2019s fintech sector has outpaced the traditional bank sector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Big Eats Small<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It goes without saying that innovation at its most impactful \u2013 to serve the evolving needs and expectations of a populace \u2013 must be encouraged. But in the case of managing public <\/em>money, which is contingent on consumer data protection, cybersecurity, credit risk, and financial stability; raise concerns when handled by fintech institutions. Though they have proven their ability to innovate faster than banks, they lack the safeguards, accountability measures, and systemic oversight essential to a country\u2019s financial backbone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Therefore banks<\/em>, despite their limitations, are the pillars of a nation\u2019s financial ecosystem and its stability \u2013 operating under strict regulatory control and backed by strong deposit insurance systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The challenge, then, is not to choose between banks and fintechs, but to create a balanced ecosystem where both can co-exist. Fintech platforms drive inclusion, convenience, and rapid adoption of digital services, while banks provide the governance, risk management, and structural stability that protect consumers and the economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Therefore, Indonesia\u2019s best, most practical and feasible path forward would be to foster collaboration<\/em> between these private and public institutions \u2014 the two pillars of the country\u2019s financial sector. By encouraging innovation within a regulated framework, and ensuring that growth in the digital financial sector does not come at the expense of systematic security and public trust, the country can accelerate financial inclusion, modernize its banking infrastructure, address its technological gaps, and position itself as a leading digital economy in Southeast Asia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How the Regulators Stepped In<\/em><\/strong><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Seeing the rapid momentum \u2013 and hence, the risks \u2013 of fintech institutions outpacing banks; Bank Indonesia and OJK started building frameworks; not so much to push banks<\/em> forward, but to ensure fintech growth didn\u2019t destabilize<\/em> the system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It can be said that regulatory support, in this sense, means creating sandboxes, licensing regimes, protecting consumer standards, and encouraging collaboration between the two far-end institutions; i.e., the private and the public, in order to encourage innovation within regulatory compliance. The government also wants banks to \u2018catch up\u2019 in the digitization race, to better serve evolving consumer needs, and effectively bridge all other infrastructure and inclusivity gaps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It started with the establishment of OJK \u2013 Otoritas Jasa Keuangan, the Indonesian Financial Services Authority, in the year 2011; an independent government body responsible for regulating and supervising Indonesia\u2019s financial services sector, including banks, capital markets, insurance companies, and financial technology firms \u2013 aimed to protect consumers\u2019 interests, promote a competitive financial industry, and ensure public trust through comprehensive supervision and enforcement of financial regulations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All new fintech institutions and platforms are therefore mandated to comply<\/em> with OJK\u2019s licensing, supervision, and consumer protection requirements before commencing operations \u2013 for the best of public interest. Any new service, or solution \u2013 such as digital wallets, peer-to-peer lending platforms, buy-now-pay-later schemes, or mobile banking applications \u2013 must pass all government evaluations and standards for security, transparency, and risk management, before being allowed to serve consumers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How the Banks in Indonesia Want to Respond<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

While fintech institutions have pushed Indonesia\u2019s fintech market past the billion-dollar mark, and undeniably helped the nation position itself at the forefront of ASEAN in terms of digital competitiveness, it is crucial to both regulate and oversee such rapid digital expansion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The main question remains: how do Indonesian banks intend to compete and<\/em> collaborate with the fintech sector? As has been demonstrated over the past few years, they\u2019ve counter-contrived with a similar range of digital initiatives, and are in the midst of launching newer ones each year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To mention a few \u2013 BCA Digital, Jenius (BTPN), and Bank Mandiri launched neo-banking and app-led models; <\/strong>digital products that target tech-savvy consumers with mobile-first services. There has also been a surge of strategic partnerships between banks and financial platforms \u2013 such as digital wallets and lending programs \u2013 to extend the banks\u2019 reach. Various initiatives such as branchless banking, micro-loans, and targeted digital products have been launched to better serve underbanked populations as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There have also been significant investments in technology, the most recent one of which was by Bank Mandiri, BRI (Bank Rakyat Indonesia) and BCA (Bank Central Asia), which included AI-driven credit scoring, fraud detection systems, and enhanced mobile banking platforms \u2013 aimed at improving risk management, operational efficiency, and offering personalized digital services to customers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In short, banks in Indonesia are both aware of the growing competition in financial servicing and are, in response, actively countering them by accelerating digital transformation, launching mobile-first products, forming strategic fintech partnerships, and investing in advanced technologies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What\u2019s Next?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Long-term growth. For both.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The future is abundantly clear: AI and the internet will infiltrate and reshape all things. For Indonesia, the key to sustaining their financial growth is coordinated, systematic collaboration<\/em> between their banks and other fintech institutions, who need each other\u2019s strengths. By combining regulatory experience and systemic stability with fintech agility, innovation, and consumer-first digital solutions \u2013 the country can hope to modernize its banking infrastructure, expand financial inclusivity, and bridge technological gaps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What\u2019s needed, hence, are platforms<\/em> where such collaboration takes place. Where the best minds from both sectors meet, exchange insights, co-develop solutions, pilot new initiatives, share cutting-edge solutions, and establish practices that effectively address both innovation and regulation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One such platform is the World Financial Innovation Series (WFIS) Indonesia<\/strong>, organized by Tradepass. This event \u2013 held each year over the past 6 \u2013 serves as a significant gathering for the financial services industry in Indonesia. The 2024 edition last year, held on November 12 \u2013 13 at Raffles Jakarta, attracted over 600 professionals; constituting<\/strong> industry leaders, regulators, investors, senior executives, and technology providers from Indonesia’s banking, insurance, and microfinance sectors \u2013 all converging under one roof to discuss the country\u2019s evolving financial landscape.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Notable speakers at the event included Juda Agung<\/strong>, Deputy Governor of Bank Indonesia, and Ridhony Marisson Hasudungan Hutasoit (Analis Senior (Stk. Kepada Bagian) Deputi Direktur Pengaturan Pengawasan Perilaku Pelaku Usaha Jasa Keuangan, Edukasi dan Perlindungan Konsumen)<\/strong> from the Financial Services Authority (OJK) \u2013 who divulged the respective sectors\u2019 growth patterns; i.e., analyzed what worked, what didn\u2019t, what can, and what must \u2013 to guide the future of the country\u2019s financial ecosystem, and strengthen its position as Southeast Asia\u2019s leading digital economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By fostering dialogue and practical collaboration in a structured environment, such gatherings help ensure that Indonesia\u2019s digital transformation is controlled, coordinated, inclusive, and aligned with regulatory standards. Such a platform helps set direction<\/em>, and action<\/em>.   For more information on the upcoming event, visit https:\/\/www.indonesia.worldfis.com\/<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Indonesia\u2019s banking story is being re-written by regulators, investors, industry giants, fintech institutions, and millions of young, tech-savvy, digital-first consumers reshaping how money moves. Further pushed by global players eyeing the largest economy in Southeast Asia, Indonesia\u2019s fintech services market was valued at about USD 8.6 billion in 2024, and is further projected to reach […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11736,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_eb_attr":"","content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11734","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/43.205.9.160\/vi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11734","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/43.205.9.160\/vi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/43.205.9.160\/vi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/43.205.9.160\/vi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/43.205.9.160\/vi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11734"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/43.205.9.160\/vi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11734\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11737,"href":"http:\/\/43.205.9.160\/vi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11734\/revisions\/11737"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/43.205.9.160\/vi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11736"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/43.205.9.160\/vi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11734"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/43.205.9.160\/vi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11734"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/43.205.9.160\/vi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11734"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}