Pepper Advantage, a global credit intelligence company, has obtained an AFPI fintech licence to service the growing number of non-bank credit providers operating in Indonesia.
With 112 fintech companies providing secured and unsecured credit products, non-bank lenders are a significant factor in providing digital financial services that can reach people who have limited access to traditional financial institutions. The potential for fintech to power financial inclusion is significant in Indonesia, with 51% of the country’s 270 million people unbanked, and a further 26% underbanked.
Since entering the Indonesian market in 2021, Pepper Advantage has opened new offices in Jakarta and Malang, expanding rapidly to operate in 13 cities and becoming the country’s first global servicing platform with the capability to service a range of asset classes.
Responding to a high demand for credit, Pepper Advantage’s experienced Indonesian team has developed a state-of-the-art collections platform. This allows 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.
The system can be scaled to support all types of credit management and outsourcing services, including collections, litigation and asset sales. The recent acquisition of Rieom.ai, an AI-driven credit assessment platform, will soon complement our collections technology, to deliver services efficiently at scale and drive financial inclusion through the assessment of credit worthiness without a credit score, which can be a barrier to entry for the unbanked.
Fraser Gemmell, Chief Executive Officer, Pepper Advantage said: “Demand for credit in Indonesia is rising rapidly, with Bank Indonesia (Indonesia’s central bank) recording credit growth of 11.35% 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.”
Banking Transformation 2023
Aaron Milburn, Managing Director of Pepper Advantage Indonesia 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.”
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.