Indonesian digital payment firm Ovo has recorded one billion total transactions in 2019, an increase of 70% compared to 2018, the firm’s president director Karaniya Dharmasaputra announced on Wednesday.
Ovo’s online transaction growth is also higher than the one recorded from 2017 to 2018, when it reached a 55% increase. Dharmasaputra also mentioned that his firm booked a 55% growth in the average transaction value and an increase of 40% in the number of monthly active users (MAUs) in 2018.
Dharmasaputra said that the Ovo app is used in more than 115 million devices in over 363 cities.
Ovo also announced the same day a partnership with Indonesia’s biggest pawnshop, Pegadaian. With the move, the unicorn digital wallet will potentially add over 13.4 million Pegadaian’s customers to its digital financial ecosystem.
“The partnership between Ovo and Pegadaian will further eliminate the gap in technology-based financial services for users, even for those living in remote areas,” Dharmasaputra said.
Dharmasaputra mentioned that Ovo will reach more underbanked people who have never used financial services in the digital economy ecosystem. Currently, Ovo claims that 28% of its users fall into the underbanked category.
“Our open ecosystem strategy can significantly expand the adoption of the platform [by new users] and by a growing number of merchants, especially small-medium enterprises, which have never used modern financial services before,” he added.
Today, Pegadaian has more than 1,800 salesman and 9,600 agents offering services to customers. Pegadaian’s CEO Mr. Kuswiyoto said that the partnership with Ovo will increase Pegadaian customers’ access to the developing national digital finance ecosystem.
Ovo was launched by Indonesian conglomerate Lippo Group, which also has stakes in ride-hailing firm Grab. According to the 2019 Indonesian Fintech Report by Daily Social, Ovo is the most popular e-wallet platform among Indonesians and it secured the second spot as the most used digital wallet in the country, trailing behind Gojek’s GoPay.