The world’s largest archipelago, Indonesia is an extraordinarily diverse and culturally rich country that spans across 17,000 islands in the Asia-Pacific region. The country is one of the fastest growing economies today — in part, because of digitization. Its digital economy is predicted to more than triple to US $133 billion by 2025.
Yet, despite the rapid growth, half of Indonesia’s adult population is still unbanked, and the majority of its 64 million micro-enterprises, like rice mill owner Ibu Oom, have been financially excluded. This has forced many micro-enterprises to borrow from family and friends or via informal money lenders, which often results in high interest rates and potential overindebtedness. Several large state-owned banks, private banks, microfinance companies, and more recently, fintechs, have begun addressing the needs of this market.
As part of Mastercard and Accion’s partnership, we’re excited to partner with Bina Artha Ventura (BAV), a leading financial service provider determined to bridge the gap between Indonesia’s formal and informal financial sectors. Established in 2011, BAV serves more than 300,000 clients through an extensive network of 330 branches across peri-urban and rural regions of Java and Sulawesi. BAV supports micro-entrepreneurs, the majority of whom are women, with affordable group and individual lending products to empower them with the economic means to grow their businesses and improve their financial well-being.
