OVO, The Digital Wallet Of The Conglomerate Mochtar Riady, Is Claimed To Help MSME Entrepreneurs Increase Sales During The Pandemic

Illustration (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - The Center of Reform on Economics (CORE) Indonesia released the results of a survey related to the social and economic impacts on the business activities of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) facilitated by digital payment company OVO.

Founder of CORE Indonesia Hendri Saparini said the survey conducted by his party found that OVO played a major role for Indonesian MSME players.

"From the results of our survey, 84 percent of the population of OVO SMEs stated that this digital wallet was very helpful for their sales during the pandemic," he said in a webinar held on Thursday, August 12.

According to Hendri, 8 out of 10 people have become familiar with various banking services since joining this digital payment application.

"In fact, around 71 percent have become more literate in digital financial services after using these facilities," he said.

Hendri added that this survey itself involved 2,001 merchants with the results that before the pandemic period, 68 percent of MSMEs experienced an increase in monthly income since joining OVO, with an average increase of 27 percent in income.

Then, 31 percent of the population serves more than 75 transactions daily, while 45 percent serves 20 - 75 transactions.

Hendri also explained that the acceleration of digital financial services for MSMEs can reduce business barriers.

"After joining OVO, 71 percent of MSME players record sales transactions more regularly and accept digital payment transactions, 68 percent have wider access to financial services, and 51 percent claim to have a better understanding of using technology to maintain their business," he explained.

On the same occasion, OVO President Director Karaniya Dharmasaputra said that currently more than 1 million MSME players have become his company's merchants.

"In addition to being committed to embracing more business actors, entering the national digital ecosystem, we continue to strive to provide opportunities for MSME players to develop their businesses, through deepening digital financial literacy that specifically targets Indonesian entrepreneurs," he said.

To note, data from the Ministry of Cooperatives and SMEs states that the number of MSMEs currently reaches 64.2 million with a contribution to gross domestic product (GDP) of 61.07 percent or Rp. 8,573.89 trillion.

The contribution of MSMEs to the Indonesian economy includes the ability to absorb 97 percent of the total workforce and can collect up to 60.4 percent of the total investment.