JAKARTA– Indonesia National Islamic Finance Committee (KNKS) collaborate with PT Fintek Karya Nusantara (Finarya) to launch LinkAja Syariah, an Islamic digital payment platform initiated by both parties in strengthening the digital ecosystem of Islamic economy in Indonesia.
Director of Islamic Economy and Halal Industry Development of KNKS, Afdhal Aliasar, has previously introduced the Islamic digital payment as one of Quick Wins stated in the Indonesia Islamic Economy Masterplan 2019-2024.
He explained that the intiative is also a collaboration among the biggest four state-owned banks, namely Bank Syariah Mandiri, BRISyariah, BNISyariah,BTN and Finarya itself who are already signed MoU between all parties.
“On May 2019, KNKS and Finarya have signed an MoU regarding the development of Islamic digital payment in Indonesia. We also signed an MoU with the four biggest state-owned Islamic banks in Indonesia namely BRI Syariah, Bank Syariah Mandiri, BNISyariah, and BTN-Sharia Business Unit,“ said Afdhal.
PT Finarya is a subsidiary of PT Telkomsel which focused on digital payment system. Finarya just launched LinkAja in February 2019 as an integrated payment system services provided by state-owned banks, namely Telkomsel’s TCash, Bank Mandiri e-cash, BNI UnikQu, Telkom’s t-money, and BRI’s T-Bank.
KNKS encourages Islamic banks to tap into the digital payment industry by featuring sharia-compliant features.
Afdhal explained that KNKS and PT Finarya are in advanced collaboration to develop LinkAja Syariah which will be launched to the Indonesian community.
This Islamic digital payment is aimed to process various transactions such as payment of transportations, food and beverages, and other following lifestyles by complying the system to the Islamic principles.
KNKS and PT Finarya are also in coordination with the Indonesia Ulama Council (MUI) to assure the accordance of LinkAja Syariah with the Islamic principles.
“The main feature of this Islamic digital payment platform is the use of sharia-compliant agreements. Then, the user’s fund will be stored in the Islamic Banks account, “ explained Afdhal.
In the future, LinkAja Syariah will be connected to the Islamic economic ecosystem and halal industry. Afdhal said that users can use this product to pay zakat, infaq and other bills and conduct awqf. Furthermore, LinkAja Syariah will also be connected to the e-commerce and other Islamic financial products.
"Later on, this platform will be connected to the halal industry ecosystem, banking, and even to the BMTs," Afdhal said.
Afdhal continued to explain that principally, this Islamic digital payment platform will be the front guard of the development system to supports the Islamic digital economy.
KNKS with Finarya are originally planned to held a soft launching for LinkAja Syariah in the middle of September 2019.
The presence of LinkAja Syariah is expected to unite the Islamic economic ecosystem into one digital payment platform, resulting in the formation of a halal value chain.
Reporter : Khairana Izzati