A research published last year warned about the risk of the abundant access to motorcycle loans, a currently perceived phenomenon in Indonesia. The survey, conducted by Indonesian Fintech Association, said the rapidly expanding financial services for motorcycle credits could increase poverty in Indonesia. Fintech, the popular acronym for ‘financial technology’, particularly refers to mobile- or internet-based financial applications.

The reason is that easier credits for motorcycles (and other items) could lead to uncontrollable borrowings that are relevant only for maintaining one’s lifestyle, according to the survey. Such risk come as a result of borrowers ignoring whether they are able to pay their debts.

Obviously, citizens’ financial illiteracy had already been a major public concern well before Fintech Indonesia issued its research results.

(Read: The Emergence of Fintech in Indonesia)

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Bank Indonesia designed a ‘bank literacy’ education program to boost the country’s financial literacy. (Photo source: Financialtribune.com)

On this, Bank Indonesia (BI), the country’s central bank, had designed a ‘bank literacy’ education program for the people at large. BI wants more and more Indonesians to have better knowledge and understanding of the roles and functions of banks in general.

The latest concrete example of the program implementation was seen on Thursday’s (16/11) writing course dedicated for the central banks’ young employees. As many as 30 participants from the bank attended the so-called ‘Workshop for Bank Indonesia’s Young Writers 2017’ in Denpasar, Bali, as reported by Mediaindonesia.com.

With adequate writing skills, Bank Indonesia expects the course participants to produce readable and attractive articles on banks for local and international publications. Their writings are expected to be relevant to people’s living condition.

Meanwhile, Bank Indonesia had previously launched a special program to popularize rural banks (Bank Perkreditan Rakyat or the BPR) and their products. At least 50 percent of the country’s rural population do not know about the BPR, which was set to be a pioneering financial institution for villagers in rural areas.

The central bank is also implementing its ‘Goes to Campus’ program so as to support its National Non-Cash Movement (GNNT) which was launched two years ago and endorsed by President Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo.

Reportedly, only 22 percent of Indonesia’s total population of 262 million people is financially literate. And, of the 22 percent, only 8 percent goes digital. According to a report by Republika.com, Bank Indonesia is endeavoring to raise financial literacy rate to 75 percent of the population by 2019.