MEF: Carrier Billing and Airtime Transfer Are Popular in Indonesia

After finding out that Indonesian people are more accustomed to purchase paid apps nowadays, MEF also suggested that Airtime Transfer and carrier billing get more and more popular among Indonesians.

Indonesia is one of developing countries which are open to tech development, including mobile, compared to developed countries. In fact, 79% of Indonesian mobile device consumers stated that they want to keep catching up with the latest update of the technology, especially those on cellphone.

This demand is reflected from the growth of transaction done through mobile. 79% of the respondents said that they had ever done transaction through their mobile devices during last year. This was 10% higher than the previous year’s figure.

According to the data by MEF, Indonesians find shopping through mobile devices really convenient, both in purchasing digital and physical products. When they shop, 29% of them spend their money on products which were more expensive. It was 6% higher than the global average, which was ‘only’ 23%.

This trend opens unlimited business opportunities, such as the digital payment method for instance. 2014 was indeed the year of new digital payment mechanisms, in which each of them has enjoyed significant growth so far, along with the increasing number of Indonesians who shop through mobile.

Further data on the maturity of mobile devices as payment platforms and credit card or debit usage showed a promising growth. The total number of consumers who use that kind of service to shop through mobile has been tripled, from 5% to 18%, in 2014. The positive growth was also enjoyed by other services, from online payment service to loyalty scheme with voucher or coupon, mobile wallet, and digital money services like bitcoin.

The biggest success was secured by airtime transfer. Last year, the mechanism was utilized by 29% of mobile users in Indonesia, going up 8% from 2013. Carrier billing also showed a positive growth. According to MEF, the number of consumers went up  62% (from 13% to 21%) last year.

Carrier billing is not a new thing in Indonesia. However, its implementation is still young, particularly when it comes to popular devices like Android. The world’s figure of carrier billing usage was more moderate, from 11% to 14%.