The Digitalization of Money

Written By: Debby Noviyanti, Translated By: 丸

Indonesia, the 4th most populous country in the world with a constantly growing economy is
going through a period of change. It is currently entering the digital age. This is marked by the
large usage of Forms of electronic payments in the society. From paying Toll Road Bills, Online
Taxi Fares and parking lots, all of these are currently using existing forms of E-Money. These
are T-Cash, Ovo, Go-Pay, Sakuku, and many others. Just by looking at the progress of
technology today, we could feel the benefits of modern technology especially in the world of
business. Unfortunately, there are still people out there who are missing out from the benefits of
the modern technology. Especially in Indonesia, due to inadequate facilities and infrastructure,
there are huge parts of the country that are still off untouched by modernization. One of these
problems are like slow internet speeds and low coverage. These assets are crucial if Indonesia
wants to compete in the global stage of modern economy.
As technology develops, so does the needs of the people. Technology is constantly trying
to improve our lives for the better each and every day. In Indonesia for example, the methods of
payment have been vastly improved, especially for the past few years. For example: instead of
waiting in long queues for payment, there are currently alternative methods like smartphones
apps or an electronic payment method called ‘Tapcash’. These apps are all available for
everyone to download for free. These new technologies have benefits that can give the user the
edge for those who can harness it. But for those who couldn’t would fall behind, said the Chief
of the House of Representatives of Bambang Soesatyo. New technologies however doesn’t
always come with benefits, but also flaws. In a third world country like Indonesia, these flaws
can be felt throughout society. One of the major flaws of these digital forms of payment is that it
needs a constant flow of internet connection to function properly. In Indonesia, the internet
connection speed is a major problem. Indonesia is one of the countries in Asia-Pacific with the
slowest internet speed. Even in Jakarta a lot of people still complain about this problem. This can
be a major problem because any disruption caused in a transaction would result in the money
being stuck in Limbo with nowhere to go. That would be a major loss for both sides. Also, there
are still many parts of the archipelago that are not yet been touched by internet coverage. Remote
Villages in Sulawesi, Papua and Sumatera for example are off limits to the internet. Also, a lot of
people in Indonesia still lives in poverty, which means they can’t buy smartphones or other fancy
gadgets. This is where the Government should step up its efforts such as building better
infrastructure and lowering the price of smartphones.
Most Indonesians are attracted to cashless forms of payments (Ovo, Go-Pay , T-Cash,
etc) because they often offer discounts or cash backs. Besides that, the users were given the
convenience to use its features. The President Director of Ovo Adrian Suherman stated that his
digital payment service has currently 5-10 million active users. The transaction of Electronic
Payments in Indonesia has seen a drastic increase. As of November 2017, the Indonesian Central
Bank has recorded that the value and volume of E-Money transactions is 1,64 Trillion IDR
which is a huge 98% increase compared to November from the previous year. The Director of
System of Payment of the Indonesian Central Bank Eny V. Panggabean reaffirmed that the
transactions of E-Money has been the biggest contributor in cashless transactions. “The average
transaction of E-money reached 2.3 million transactions per day with a value of 2.8 trillion IDR”
said Eny. But on the other hand, there are still people in the society who would rather use old
school methods like Cash or credit cards.
In the up and coming future, we could see a huge change in digitalization. Their forms
would differ a lot than what we know in 2018. The better the technology, the less manpower is
required for certain jobs, like for example: a cashier. In the big city of Seattle on the west coast
of the US, there have been experiments on a supermarket without cashier machines which is
called “Amazon Go”. Amazon Go emplaces a series of cameras in every corner of the
supermarket to monitor and identify every customer that walks in and what products they
bought. During entry, customers would go through some sort of a huge scanning device that
looks like a card scanning machine that is used in the subways. These machines would then scan
the Amazon Go app of every customer. And then the cameras would identify which products that
the customers took from the shelves. If the customer decided against buying it and return it to the
original shelf, then the product would be automatically removed from the customers shopping
list. Lastly, customers won’t need to wait in long endless queues because the payment is already
done through their Amazon Go apps in their phones, which is tied directly with their credit cards.

Based on the analysis above, we can conclude that there are lots of benefits when using
cashless forms of payments. The benefits are it would eliminate any human errors made during
payment like if the cashier gives/charges the wrong sum of money. The other benefits are we
don’t need to bring cash in out wallets anymore. We just need our smartphones and internet
connection. And also no more waiting for long tiring queues in supermarkets and shopping
centres. But on the other hand, there are a couple of flaws like needing to have constant internet
connection and not everyone is able to use the app. On my opinion, digital forms payment should
be spread out and socialised throughout Indonesia. The government should also play a role in
changing the payment methods in Indonesia such as Improving the internet connection and lower
smartphone prices so more people can afford it.
JAKARTA - Young entrepreneurs are demanded to be able to have a broad knowledge
of information and technology to be able to keep up and survive in the era which is dubbed “The
Industrial Revolution 4.0”. Without these, Indonesian businessmen would be lagging years
behind in the global economy stage.
“The Industrial Revolution 4.0 will change the flow of world economy. If we don’t prepare now,
we would be lagging years behind in the global economy” said Bambang Soesatyo, the Chief of
the House of Representatives, Jakarta, Thursday (12/4/2018)

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