The Enchantment Behind “Multifinance” Service Acquisition by Technology Startup

Atom acquire PT Mega Finadana Finance (now known as PT Atome Finance Indonesia) to add to the ranks of the company who are interested in expanding, especially in the field of consumer goods financing.

Before Atome, there was Kredivo which acquired PT Swarna Niaga Finance (now known as PT FinAccel Finance Indonesia). Outside of fintech companies, there are Traveloka which acquired PT Malacca Trust Finance (now known as PT Caturnusa Sejahtera Finance) to operate Traveloka Paylater.

In an official statement, Atome Financial Indonesia CEO Wawan Salum said, "This acquisition is a testament to our commitment to growing our business in Indonesia, with the aim of better serving our partners and consumers in providing customized financing and loan options."

Since 2017, Atome Financial has forged partnerships with some of the world's leading financial institutions providing more than $200 million in funding and credit facilities to promote financial inclusion.

Wawan claims, cumulatively the company has served more than 5 million users and has provided loans of more than $1 billion to empower merchants and consumers. "This acquisition will not only accelerate our rapid business expansion, but will also contribute to a stronger and healthier lending and financing ecosystem in Indonesia," he added.

DailySocial sent a number of additional questions to Wawan, but as of this writing has not received a response.

As known, Atome Financial has two main business units, namely Atome and Kredit Pintar. Both are engaged in lending, the difference lies in the use side. Atome provides BNPL services with the option of paying 0% interest for three or six months. Atome partners with several retail groups and e-commerce platforms, such as MAP (covering Sephora, Zara, Mango, Pull & Bear, Marks & Spencer, Food Hall), JD.id, and iStyle.

While, Smart Credit play on fast loan (cash loans) with a maximum ceiling of IDR 20 million in cash ranging from three to one year. The funds are not only used for productive needs, but also for daily needs.

The increasing interest in acquiring multi-finance companies, according to the General Chairperson of the Association of Indonesian Financing Companies (APPI) Suwandi Wiratno, allows these players to touch more comprehensive loan and financing products.

He gave an example, for Traveloka, they basically sell products, they can't act like a finance company that can provide credit to its customers. By platform, they only need to register themselves at Kemenkominfo Of course, it's not like a finance company that must be strictly regulated by the OJK.

“Now through Caturnusa, people who want to buy tickets, which should have had to buy in cash, can now pay in installments up to 10 times. That's because the financing needs prospective debtors, they [Traveloka] come here because they see the potential, where not everyone has the ability to buy cash," he said when contacted. DailySocial.

The ability to mix products and the company's ability to offer financing will provide a new approach. They can more freely channel multipurpose financing for many industrial sectors such as multi-finance companies in general and enter into vehicle, property, electronics, KTA, and other financing.

For sources of funds, they can rely on loans from banks, by channeling or joint financing, issue debt securities from MTN, bonds, syndication on/offshore, until the IPO.

"By combining the products they already have with loans that comply with regulations, they can offer a new approach," added Kelvin.

Previously, when contacted DailySocial, CEO Kredivo Indonesia Alie Tan said, since the beginning of the financing scheme, Kredivo It is indeed dominated by financing for product purchases at merchants, not cash loans, therefore multi-finance licenses are considered more suitable for financing Kredivo. "Thus, we hope to grow rapidly and serve 10 million users in the next few years," he said.

Alie's statement reinforces the Co-Founder ujar Kredivo Akshay Garg previously mentioned that through a multi-finance license, loan distribution Kredivo will get bigger and bigger. This license is considered more stable because the regulations have been established for a long time. The regulation states that it is also possible for finance companies to channel 30% of their financing to .

Post FinAccel, parent Kredivo, announced the completion of the acquisition of PT Swarna Niaga Finance, a joint gas company with Samsung to provide Samsung Financing services. The offer is not much different. Consumers can apply for installments from Kredivo when shopping for Samsung devices online or offline.

FinAccel doesn't necessarily leave the business lending because they introduced Kredifazz (PT FinAccel Digital Indonesia) which focuses on productive and consumptive loans. One of the loan products released by Kredifazz is Klop!, a consumer loan aimed at users Telkomsel.