Financial inclusion is growing in Indonesia. Here’s how

Technology is changing how people participate in the economy, how growth is shared and how resilient communities are as shocks become more frequent. Over the past decade, financial inclusion has accelerated globally, driven by digitalization and closer alignment between policy and markets. In the early 2010s, only about half of adults had access to formal financial services; today, access is increasingly the norm in many economies.

Many of these gains are happening in the developing world, with access growing fast. Indonesia, the world’s fourth largest country by population, is a case study in the importance, and challenges, of using tech to bolster financial inclusion.

For Indonesia, this effort carries added urgency. As an archipelago with wide geographic, economic and digital diversity, financial inclusion supports livelihoods, household resilience and the survival of micro and small businesses in uncertain times. That is why inclusive technology must be practical, trustworthy and able to scale nationally without creating hidden costs.

Inclusive technology rests on two inseparable outcomes: inclusion for people and responsibility on a scale.

Millions of Indonesians have historically lacked access to formal financial services. Technology should lower barriers to entry and, in this context, that entry point is access to finance.

A milestone was set in 2016 when Indonesia introduced its National Strategy for Financial Inclusion, aiming to ensure that 90% of Indonesians would have access to formal financial services by 2024. Sustained policy commitment and rapid digital adoption helped expand access by reducing cost, distance and onboarding barriers, and by enabling services to reach first-time users across regions with very different infrastructure realities.

Indonesia’s digital scale amplifies these effects. More than 80 percent of the population, over 220 million people, are digitally connected, making Indonesia one of the largest digitally engaged markets globally. This level of connectivity accelerates adoption, lowers distribution costs and allows financial services to move from pilots to national impact within a relatively short time frame.

In this context, inclusion is not achieved simply by launching features. The real measure lies in whether technology is understandable, affordable to use and safe enough to earn trust. People are not passive recipients of digital finance. As end users of the payment system, their literacy, confidence and everyday behavior influence whether inclusion is sustainable.

At the infrastructure level, inclusion requires integration, interconnectivity and interoperability. Indonesia’s Payment System Blueprint by Bank Indonesia shows how inclusivity and interoperability can be advanced together. One of its most significant outcomes is QRIS, a standardized QR-based payment system that enables industry players to adopt a single payment instrument. QRIS allows Indonesians to transact seamlessly across platforms. More importantly, it levels the playing field: street vendors and micro-merchants can accept cashless payments with the same ease as larger establishments, extending the benefits of digital finance across every layer of the economy.

Within this ecosystem, the next step is moving beyond access toward financial health – and the private sector has a significant role to play in this endeavour. Tech-driven platforms like financial technology company DANA can translate national foundations like that of Indonesia into everyday participation. More than 200 million people, over half of them in Indonesia, use DANA’s services, as well as over one million MSMEs.

The services private companies like DANA offer are developing beyond basic digital necessities – payment processing, wallets – into advanced services that allow people to pursue their financial goals how they choose.

For example, DANA alone has played a role in increasing the overall investment base in Indonesia. By enabling people to invest via its app, more than four million people, out of an investor base of 17 million, have been given investor IDs, allowing them to start investing their money.

Younger users and more regions are increasingly included. Around 40 percent of DANA’s active mutual fund investors come from outside Java, compared with a national investor base that remains roughly 70 percent concentrated on the island. More than half of these investors are aged 17 to 25, showing that investing is increasingly becoming part of everyday financial behavior among Gen Z across Indonesia.

It’s not just about investing. Each month, DANA users purchase an average of five micro-insurance products through DANA, with some priced as low as Rp400 ($0.02).

Inclusion must be matched with governance and controls, especially as risks evolve. In Indonesia, losses from scams and fraud are estimated to be equivalent to around 0.2% of national GDP, underscoring how quickly digital risks can scale alongside innovation. This makes Bank Indonesia’s stronger focus on risk mitigation, consumer protection and system resilience especially timely. Trust is the foundation of sustainable inclusion.

Inclusive technology also needs to make efficiency visible. Digital finance is often assumed to be automatically greener than traditional systems. Sometimes it is, but assumptions are no longer enough. Environmental responsibility must be measured and managed, especially for platforms operating on a national scale.

For Indonesia, climate impacts are tangible, affecting food systems, coastal communities, extreme weather risk, and long-term economic resilience. For DANA, this begins with operational discipline: measure first, then improve. Each transaction on DANA emits approximately 0.14 grams of CO₂ equivalent, reflecting the efficiency of a digital-first model.

As SEA’s largest economy and a leader in fintech growth, Indonesia is well positioned to help shape the next phase of inclusive technology. This responsibility grows as ASEAN advances discussions on the Digital Economy Framework Agreement (DEFA). As cross-border trade, tourism and digital services expand, interoperable and trusted payment systems will be critical to reducing friction, lowering transaction costs and enabling individuals and MSMEs to participate more easily in the regional economy.

The future of fintech should be defined less by how quickly features are launched, and more by how well the industry earns trust at scale. Products need to be designed for real-world conditions and varying levels of financial confidence. Safety must be treated as a core product promise, supported by education, responsible data use and strong governance. At the same time, industry must be disciplined about its environmental footprint through measurement, efficiency improvements, and transparent controls.

When inclusion for people and responsibility for the planet move together, fintech becomes more than a growth story. The benefits reach further, for people today and for the planet future users will inherit.