The Gravity of Multifinance Services Acquired by Tech Startups

Atome acquired PT Mega Finadana Finance (currently PT Atome Finance Indonesia), adding up to the fintech lending companies seeking to expand, especially in the consumer goods financing sector.

Prior to Atome, Kredivo has acquired PT Swarna Niaga Finance (currently PT FinAccel Finance Indonesia). Apart from fintech companies, Traveloka has acquired PT Malacca Trust Finance (currently PT Caturnusa Sejahtera Finance) to operate Traveloka Paylater.

In an official statement, Atome Financial Indonesia's CEO, Wawan Salum said, "This acquisition is a proof of our commitment to grow our business in Indonesia, aiming to serve our partners and consumers better in providing customized financing and loan options."

Since 2017, Atome Financial has established partnerships with some of the world's leading financial institutions providing more than $200 million in funding and credit facilities to promote financial inclusion.

Wawan claimed, the company has cumulatively served more than 5 million users and has provided loans of more than $1 billion to empower merchants and consumers. "This acquisition will not only accelerate our rapid business expansion, but also contribute to a stronger and healthier lending and financing ecosystem in Indonesia," he added.

DailySocial asks some follow-up questions to Wawan, but he has not written back to the date this article published.

In a general note, Atome Financial has two main business units, Atome and Kredit Pintar. Both are engaged in loan services, the difference lies in the function. Atome provides BNPL services with 0% interest payment options for three or six months. Atome partners with several retail groups and e-commerce platforms, such as MAP (including Sephora, Zara, Mango, Pull & Bear, Marks & Spencer, Food Hall), JD.id, and iStyle.

Meanwhile, Kredit Pintar runs cash loans with a maximum of IDR20 million in cash ranging from three to one year. Funds are not only for productive needs, but also for daily needs.

The trend of acquiring multi-finance companies, for the Chairman of the Indonesian Finance Companies Association (APPI), Suwandi Wiratno, allows these players to reach more comprehensive loan and financing products.

He said Traveloka for instance, basically sell products and incapable to act as a financial company to provide credit to their consumers. In terms of platform, they only need to register with the Ministry of Communication and Information, unlike financial companies that should be strictly regulated by the OJK.

"Through Caturnusa, people who want to buy tickets, which used to be in cash, can now paid using installments up to 10 times. That's because financing requires prospective debtors, they [Traveloka] come here because they see the potential, where not everyone has the ability to buy in cash,” he said to DailySocial.

The ability to mix products and the ability of companies to offer financing will provide a new approach. They can freely distribute multipurpose financing to many industrial sectors such as multi-finance companies in general and enter into financial services for vehicle, property, electronics, KTA, and others.

In terms of sources, they can rely on bank loans, by channeling or joint financing, issuing debt securities from MTN, bonds, on/offshore syndication, and IPOs.

"By bundling their current products with loans that are in accordance with regulations, they can offer a new approach," Suwandi added.

Previously in contact with DailySocial, Kredivo Indonesia's CEO, Alie Tan said, since the beginning, Kredivo's financing scheme was dominated by product purchases at merchants, not cash loans, therefore, a multi-finance license is considered more suitable for Kredivo. "Thus, we hope to grow rapidly and serve 10 million users in the next few years," she said.

Alie's statement backed Kredivo's Co-Founder, Akshay Gargthe previous statement that through multi-finance licenses, Kredivo's loan distribution will be bigger and more developed. This license is considered more stable as the regulations was established long time ago. It states that it is also possible for financing companies to channel 30% of their financing to fintech lending.

After FinAccel, Kredivo's holding company, announced the acquisition of PT Swarna Niaga Finance, the company took off with Samsung to provide Samsung Financing services. The offer is not much different. Consumers can use Kredivo's installment for purchasing Samsung devices online or offline.

FinAccel did not immediately leave the lending business as they introduced Kredifazz (PT FinAccel Digital Indonesia) which focused on productive and consumptive loans. One of the loan products released by Kredifazz is Klop!, a consumptive loan for Telkomsel users.

–Original article is in Indonesian, translated by Kristin Siagian