Financial Inclusion, P2P Lending, and MSMEs

In Indonesia after the Asian financial crisis of 1997–1998, wide reforms were carried out, and “inclusive” economic development were adopted. One component of inclusive economic development is “financial inclusion.” This implies an absence of barriers that might deter micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) from obtaining financial services. However, the portion of bank credit received by MSMEs is still small. Therefore, financial technology (FinTech) is welcome as an alternative source of funding for MSMEs. This chapter discusses three related issues, namely financial inclusion, MSMEs, and P2P lending. It concludes that Indonesia still has a long way to go to achieve full financial inclusion. This chapter suggests that with the presence of P2P lending, the number of MSMEs, especially MSEs, in Indonesia that have access to formal financing will increase. Even though aggregate data are not available, the interviews with a small number of owners of MSEs who received P2P loans suggest that the presence of P2P lending companies give some benefits for MSEs.