Strengthen Open Ecosystem Strategy, OVO Platforms and Services Developing in the Midst of a Pandemic

In the midst of unstable economic conditions as a result of the never ending COVID-19 pandemic, OVO as one of the leading digital payment platforms, rewards and financial services in Indonesia, was able to continue to survive and even be able to improve its platforms and services. Innovation, diversification and improving service quality are keywords for OVO to deal with the pandemic that has occurred since last year.

"OVO platforms and services during 2020 were able to grow and expand thanks to the support of the community and partners who made OVO their preferred financial service platform. This development is in line with the expansion of the OVO ecosystem which is growing and diversified in 2020, presenting new products and more benefits for OVO users through strategic collaborations carried out with various industry players, from MSMEs to leading companies," said Head of Corporate Communication OVO, Harumi Supit.

Seen at the start of the pandemic, OVO recorded an increase in the growth of new users, which was inseparable from OVO's efforts to support the community, both through programs aimed at facilitating the offline to online transition and through Joint Venture donations for Sharing.

"OVO thanks the Indonesian people, especially loyal OVO users because in the midst of a pandemic, digital transactions have actually increased rapidly, where digital acceleration/digitalization has become an important factor in recovering the Indonesian economy, especially in the MSME sector which plays a substantial role in driving Indonesian economy," he continued.

This performance is inseparable from the open ecosystem strategy that OVO has implemented so far. Through this open ecosystem, OVO continues to innovate, improve quality and maintain strategic collaborations with many credible partners such as Bank BRI, Manulife Aset Manajemen Indonesia, Prudential Indonesia, Zalora, Lazada, Blibli, Bhinneka, HappyFresh and many more.

At the end of the year, OVO was present in 426 cities/regencies and more than 1.500.000 merchants had joined OVO, including more than 950.000 MSMEs that had implemented QRIS. The number of MSME players who are OVO partners has even increased by 95% throughout 2020 compared to 2019.

"As a company with an open ecosystem strategy, OVO continues to expand its network and create interoperability with strategic partners that people trust enough to spend their money on," said Harumi.

Furthermore, in the second half of 2020, OVO is collaborating with financial partners to present the launch of an insurance service on the OVO application, entitled OVO | Protection, and also the launch of the OVO | service Investments that aim to open access to investment opportunities for the wider community. This is in line with OVO's strategic plan to evolve from a digital payment platform to become a comprehensive financial service provider according to OVO's vision to encourage financial inclusion.

On the other hand, OVO also continues to improve services through financial inclusion through the OVO application. Harumi added, “In line with our strategy changes in the market, especially to encourage financial inclusion, since 2020 we have expanded our services from only payments to financial services through the OVO | Invest and OVO | Protection which is the result of strategic innovation and collaboration.”

OVO | Invest itself has received a warm welcome from OVO users, thanks to its convenience and affordability. More than 450.000 users, or about half a million users, chose to sign up for OVO | Invest in the first 3 months of launch.

The performance and growth of new OVO users is also supported by OVO's appointment in technological innovation in the distribution of productive social assistance through the Pre-Employment program. As of 31 December 2020, OVO has distributed more than 3 trillion rupiah to 1.67 million Pre-Employment program participants as a concrete manifestation of its commitment to support the Government in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic and developing real solutions for the wider community.

“OVO is fully committed to supporting the Indonesian government and people on the road to economic recovery from COVID-19. We will continue to leverage our digital capabilities and open ecosystem to meet the changing needs of consumers, while also supporting the government in distributing aid and serving as a catalyst that can continue to drive the country's digital economy," concluded Harumi.