This is the first of two blogs that highlights the insights from MSC study to understand the economic and health impact of COVID-19 on LMI ( Low and medium income) Indonesians.

Effective liquidity management is critical for the delivery of G2P programs, particularly in times of emergency when beneficiaries are most vulnerable. Cash-in/cash-out (CICO) agents in Indonesia receive little or no support to manage liquidity and most of them still have to travel to the nearest bank branch

Large-scale movement restrictions, falling consumer demand, and rising unemployment have taken a toll on CICO agents in Indonesia. Our report analyzes the impact of the pandemic on these agents, highlights their coping strategies, and provides recommendations to help them recover.

The COVID-19 crisis has proven devastating for MSMEs in Indonesia, which have seen their revenues reduce to almost half. Our report analyzes the economic consequences of the pandemic on MSMEs, highlights their coping strategies, and provides policy recommendations to help them recover.

Alarmingly, most users who sign up for digital financial services do not actually end up using them, largely due to a lack of trust in agents. This holds true even in the case of relatively “advanced” geographies. “Trust busters” examines the evidence and lists out 12 reasons behind this worrying trend of interest in agency banking that fails to convert into regular usage.

In Indonesia, the regulatory supervision of banking and financial services is under two regulatory bodies, Bank Indonesia (BI) and the more recently established, Financial Service Authority (Otoritas Jasa Keuangan or OJK). This study looks at synergies in regulations for e-money (LKD) and branchless banking (Laku Pandai) to unleash the full potential of digital financial services in Indonesia.

This blog is second in the series on the key findings and recommendations of the recently concluded Agent Network Accelerator (ANA) Indonesia survey

This blog summarises the key findings of the Agent Network Aceelerator survey in Indonesia. The study aimed to inform relevant DFS stakeholders on the progress and challenges of agent network development.