Cekaja.com Offers Mutual Funds in Partnership With Mandiri Investasi
Jakarta. C88 Financial Technologies, a Singapore-based fintech company that owns and operates financial services marketplace Cekaja.com, is upbeat about its growth prospects in Indonesia as the company begins expanding its digital presence in the archipelago nation.
Cekaja.com has forged partnerships with more than 100 major financial institutions in the country, allowing consumers to compare and purchase various financial product packages, including credit card rates, zero-collateral loans, apartment and housing mortgages, motor vehicle loans and insurance policies.
In coming months, the online marketplace will also begin offering investment packages to consumers, C88 chief executive and co-founder John Patrick Ellis said at the Jakarta Content Marketing Meetup on Thursday (18/05).
"We will offer investment products in cooperation with Mandiri Investasi," Ellis said at the bi-monthly event hosted by GetCRAFT, a content marketing platform.
GetCRAFT meetups are attended by leading figures in Indonesia's media and marketing industry to discuss best business practices and share new innovations with the public.
Mandiri Investasi, the investment wing of state-run lender Bank Mandiri, is one of the largest fund managers in the country and boasts unmatched expertise in investment portfolio management.
Cekaja.com, which Ellis says is the largest financial e-commerce website in Southeast Asia, has sought close partnerships with major Book III and IV lenders, or commercial banks with core capital ranging from Rp 5 trillion ($375 million) to over Rp 30 trillion, respectively.
So far, the portal has served more than one million unique digital customers in the region.
"We are making a big push towards working with more regional development banks [...] and are even looking at closer cooperation with Book II banks," said Ellis, whose Singapore-based company also operates the eCompareMo.com site in the Philippines, which offers similar financial services.
Book II banks have a core capital of at least Rp 1 trillion, but no more than Rp 5 trillion.
"We have created a very unique business model [...] We are the innovators, creating what we now call financial e-commerce, or what can easily described as an online financial store," Ellis said.
Ellis likened Cekaja.com to Traveloka, one of the leading online ticket and hotel booking services in Indonesia. However, Ellis said, whereas Traveloka focuses on the tourism sector, Cekaja offers only financial product comparisons.
"Cekaja is a transactional financial supermarket," Ellis said.
The company incorporates the so-called digital sales agency scheme to partner with financial institutions, insurance companies and fintech lenders to obtain rights to advertise their products on the Cekaja platform.
Ellis said Cekaja has also registered with the country's Financial Services Authority (OJK) and complies with all national regulations.
"OJK has supported us in our effort to be financially transparent. Our customers can truly understand the difference in loan prices, for instance, that might be more beneficial for them and their families. OJK has been fully supportive."
When asked why some banks would be willing to use services like those provided by Cekaja.com, Ellis said: "Financial institutions are always looking for where they can obtain new customers and how they can cut costs, since cost structure is important.
"What we represent is a more cost competitive structure."
Ellis said fintech companies are not competitors of financial institution like banks, but are rather institutions that help banks remove friction, lower costs and enable a more efficient distribution channel.
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