Bank Indonesia launches fintech office in Jakarta

Bank Indonesia (BI) announced the inauguration of its fintech office in Jakarta in a need to support the healthy development of technology-based financial transactions. In order to achieve this, the fintech office maintains a balance between innovation and risk management, prepares regulations that promote consumer protection, and strengthens coordination with the relevant parties.

The official announcement stated that the bank established the fintech office with four main objectives and in order to achieve it, the office will operate with four main functions that include the function of a catalyst or facilitator, the function of business intelligence , assessment functions, as well as coordination and communication functions.

The first objective of the fintech office aims to facilitate the development of innovation in the technology-based financial ecosystem in Indonesia. The second one prepares the country to optimize the development of technology so that, the economy is developed. Thirdly, it focuses on improving the competitiveness of the financial industry and fourthly, it aims to gain the information and provide feedback to support policy formulation.

The Jakarta fintech office will also be equipped with a regulatory sandbox, with which, the office will spearhead BI in understanding fintech and further provide a setting that is able to offer optimal support for its development. The office will also act as a forum to exchange between fintech firms and regulators.

The Indonesian central bank has issued regulations regarding the implementation of payment transactions to support fintech in the country. With various innovations in the field of payment systems, BI is expected to continue the increase in development of technology-based financial innovation in Indonesia, at the same time, maintaining consumer protection and risk mitigation.