Like It Or Not, More And More People Depend On Pinjol Because The Number Will Increase By 29 Million People During 2021

Illustration (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - The Financial Services Authority (OJK) reports that there has been a significant increase in digital financial service products throughout 2021.

Chairman of the OJK Board of Commissioners, Wimboh Santoso, said that one of the largest growths occurred in the peer-to-peer lending segment or commonly known as online loans (pinjol).

"This is shown by increasing public access to digital finance, such as the growth of peer-to-peer lending by 29.69 million borrowers by the end of 2021," he said through a virtual channel when delivering a speech at the 2022 Financial Services Industry Annual Meeting, Thursday, January 20. .

Wimboh explained that at the close of 2020 the number of borrowed customers was 43.56 million people. This figure then jumped to 73.25 million people at the end of last year.

"The presence of this industry has a positive impact on accelerating public access to financial products and services," he said.

For this reason, OJK together with the government are said to have prepared strategic steps to continue to maximize the digital financial sector so that it can contribute more to the economy.

"We will continue to improve the acceleration of access to digital finance in accordance with the national strategy towards financial inclusion of 90 percent by 2024," he stressed.

However, the Chairman of OJK realized that the public did not fully understand some of the risks that existed in the digital financial sector. Therefore, he urges the audience who use this service to really realize the importance of measuring financial capacity so that it does not cause negative excesses in the future.

“We are aware that the public's understanding of these digital products is not commensurate with their understanding of the risks of these products. So, the public cannot fully understand the consequences of these products, especially understanding products that are licensed or unlicensed,” concluded Wimboh.