BTN And LinkAja Develop The First Sharia Electronic Money In Indonesia

JAKARTA - PT Bank Tabungan Negara (Persero) Tbk in collaboration with PT Fintek Karya Nusantara (LinkAja) developed the first Islamic electronic money in Indonesia.

The collaboration between the two is expected to expand the LinkAja Syariah Service ecosystem to support the development of a national sharia ecosystem and fulfill transactions in essential sectors.

Director of Consumer and Commercial Lending Bank BTN Hirwandi Gafar said the company continues to strive to become one stop financial services for the people of Indonesia. In addition, in line with its main business, the Sharia Business Unit (UUS) of Bank BTN is also aggressively carrying out digital transformation to meet customer banking needs while adjusting to pandemic conditions.

To achieve this goal, BTN Syariah actively holds synergies with various parties including LinkAja. Moreover, during this pandemic, customers who deposited their money at BTN Syariah recorded significant growth. Until the first semester of 2021, the UUS of Bank BTN was recorded to have collected Third Party Funds (DPK) worth Rp. 26.89 trillion or increased by 29.27 percent on an annual basis (year-on-year/yoy).

"Through collaboration with LinkAja Syariah Services, BTN Syariah customers and debtors can access various digital financial service features that are easier and more practical. This collaboration can also increase Islamic financial inclusion in Indonesia," said Hirwandi, in a written statement, quoted by Antara, Monday. August 2nd.

Meanwhile, President Director of LinkAja Haryati Lawidjaja said, as the first and only Islamic electronic money in Indonesia, LinkAja's Syariah Services continue to enrich use cases so that Indonesians can easily use them on a daily basis.

"We are very happy with the establishment of this collaboration with BTN Syariah, it can further complement the sharia ecosystem in a non-cash manner and increase Islamic financial literacy in accordance with the mandate of the Government of the Republic of Indonesia," said Haryati.

He hopes that this collaboration can increase the collaboration of LinkAja Syariah Services and BTN Syariah not only at the central level but in various branches and areas spread throughout Indonesia.

Various scopes of strategic cooperation carried out between LinkAja and BTN Syariah include ease of payment for housing needs for BTN Syariah, payments for various merchants such as sharia markets and donations to mosques through QRIS, payments for Islamic schools and Islamic boarding schools in collaboration with BTN Syariah, collaboration with The National Money Waqf Movement (GNWU) and waqf sukuk, distribution of government assistance and social assistance, collaboration with qurban programs, and other collaborations in order to increase sharia financial inclusion in Indonesia.

Haryati said the main objectives that were built through the signing of the memorandum of understanding between LinkAja and BTN Syariah also included mutual support for the provision of banking services and services based on sharia and conventional principles as well as realizing the expansion of a holistic sharia ecosystem to support the acceleration of financial inclusion in Indonesia.

"We hope that the creation of this strategic synergy can make it easier for Indonesian people to get used to digitally transacting from their cellphones in conducting transactions such as merchant payments, education payments, housing needs, and various other essential needs can use LinkAja Syariah Services or regular LinkAja to avoid contact physically to break the spread of the COVID-19 virus chain," said Haryati.