soCash Launches Soon in Indonesia, Allows Anyone to Become a "Virtual ATM" Serves Cash Withdrawals

Startups fintech soCash today (22/7) announced the acquisition of series B funding of $6 million or equivalent to 83,6 billion Rupiah. The funding was led by Glory Ltd., with the support of SC Ventures and Vertex Ventures. The Singapore-based company provides services that allow bank customers to withdraw cash and apply for loans through nearby kiosks, such as minimarket, cafe, or personal services.

Through this new funding, soCash will expand to Indonesia, Malaysia and Hong Kong. The company claims to have obtained operational permits from local authorities in the three countries. In Indonesia, soCash has been registered as a financial technology provider at Bank Indonesia through PT Socash Software Service.

Regarding the planned presence in Indonesia, DailySocial spoke with Co-Founder & CEO soCash Shiva Day. Currently his team is in the preparation stage, including aggressively recruiting for the team business development, sales, merchant acquiring, and marketing & strategy.

"We plan to launch it to the public around Q3 this year, once our pilot project with partner banks is completed," said Hari.

Hari also emphasized that the soCash platform is not a digital wallet or e-money which is currently rampant in Indonesia. But it is a digital platform that can turn a shop or person into a virtual ATM. The goal is to overcome inefficiencies in the circulation of cash.

"We see this as an important requirement in the framework of financial inclusion, because the ATM network and bank branches are not increasing in scale fast enough," Hari continued.

To provide these services, soCash partners directly with the relevant banks. The soCash application also allows transactions without an ATM card or bank EDC machine, as the user's bank account will be integrated into the application. So far, cash withdrawals outside ATM machines, for example through minimarket, carried out using an EDC machine, as well as intelligent behavior agents which are currently widely spread in villages.