Credit intelligence company Pepper Advantage has obtained an AFPI fintech licence to manage assets on behalf of the growing number of non-bank credit providers operating in Indonesia.
With 112 fintech companies providing secured and unsecured credit products in Indonesia, non-bank lenders are a significant factor in providing digital financial services that can reach people who have limited access to traditional financial institutions.
Currently, the unbanked represent 51 per cent of Indonesia’s 270 million population. This statistic highlights the potential for fintech in powering financial inclusion in the country.
Since entering the Indonesian market in 2021, Pepper Advantage has opened new offices in Jakarta and Malang. The firm now operates in 13 cities and becomes the country’s first global servicing platform with the capability to service a range of asset classes.
Pepper Advantage also revealed that its experienced Indonesian team has developed a collections platform that enables them to manage a diverse range of asset classes and performance grades, provide robust quality assurance with a strong data and analytics team, and offer comprehensive and flexible real-time performance.
In 2021, Pepper Advantage established PT Pepper Services Indonesia, to build out its presence in Indonesia. As a result, it is now offering a full suite of credit management services, including data and analytics.
Pepper Advantage also revealed that its recent acquisition of AI-driven credit assessment platform Rieom.ai hopes to complement its collections technology, to drive financial inclusion through the assessment of creditworthiness without a credit score.
‘An exciting opportunity for Pepper Advantage’
Fraser Gemmell, chief executive officer at Pepper Advantage, said: “Demand for credit in Indonesia is rising rapidly, with Bank Indonesia (Indonesia’s central bank) recording credit growth of 11.35 per cent on the year to December 2022. This, coupled with an unbanked population of over 130 million and a relatively low inflationary environment, creates an exciting opportunity for Pepper Advantage.
“We’re proud of the Indonesian team’s enterprise and dynamism in developing market-leading credit intelligence for a widening pool of asset classes”.
Aaron Milburn, managing director of Pepper Advantage Indonesia, also discussed the news. Milburn said: “Securing the AFPI licence is a fantastic achievement given the high standards and exacting requirements set. This underlines the strong proposition Pepper Advantage brings to the Indonesian market. We are experiencing significant interest from fintechs for our services, seeing us grow to work with 25 institutions to manage and support their 250,000 customers”.
