Bank Sinarmas Obtains E-Money License from BI, Soon to Release "Simas Pay"

Bank Indonesia (BI) recently released e-money license for a new player under PT Bank Sinarmas, "Simas Pay", server-basee digital payment system. The license [No. 20/416/DKSP/Srt/B] will be effective to operate per 6 December 2018.

This is a second license obtained under Sinarmas conglomerate group. Previously, they've obtained license for Uangku through PT Smartfren Telecom.

In early December 2018, Miko Andjidjaja as Sinarmas Director has announced the company's target to launch e-money product in 2019. The objective is to expand customer base and to increase transaction value.

On that occasion, Miko said the e-money product will be launch (soft-launching) in mid 2019. However, the beta version is available in Google Play.

Sinarmas, as the other banking institutions, feel the urgency to reach digital market. It was done to accommodate millennials trend which is predicted to dominate market transaction.

E-money product is getting popular

This strategy is not exclusive for Sinarmas, PT Bank QNB Indonesia is also trying to implement the similar business model. They started e-money initiative since the q1 of 2017 through Dooet.

Aside from the availability through app, Dooet was integrated for other payment app, Netzme is an example of social media payment app. It was a common act since getting a license from BI is not an easy peasy.

However, the current e-money market niche is considered fierce, because many companies offering services besides banking. Even in Fintech Report published by DailySocial in 2018, services such as Go-Pay (79.39%), Ovo (58.42%), and Tcash (55.52%) became the most popular at this time - those three aren't under banking.

The other top-tier banks will not only sit still, seeing the rise of fintech transaction. QR Code-Based is one of the payment models that is getting more popular. Recently, Mandiri and BCA start preparing a transaction model using scanner.

– Original article is in Indonesian, translated by Kristin Siagian