The relationship between Indonesian public and ‘ojek’ drivers is taking a rather interesting turn. Hint: It has something to do with fintech

Indonesians have a long love affair with ojek.

In big cities like Jakarta, Bandung, or Denpasar where the traffic is constantly gridlocked, taking the motorbike is is often the only way to get somewhere in time. Or to get anywhere at all.

However, for many, riding a motorbike on their own is not a solution, which is where ojek, the supposedly illegal motorbike taxi service comes in.

In the old days, one would only need to walk to a street corner and find a group of ojek men hanging-out under a tree. With a simple lift a finger you would be on your way.

These men had a habit of lining up outside of train stations and yelling random, popular, names like “John! Mary!”, just in case you would turn your head. If eye-contact was made, consider yourself ready for a ride.

Some ojek would become so familiar that they would allow people to pay for their rides on a monthly stipend. At this point in the relationship, people would start to ask them for help with other errands.

I once asked an ojek to change a light bulb for me.

Like all great loves, occasionally there were hurdles

Services are not standardised so disagreements would abound. Price was obviously the most common source of disagreements. (The classic case of “That’s too expensive, I can literally see the place from here,” to which he would replied, “Well, ma’am, I can also see the moon from here.”).

Also, we all know that situation when the helmet he provides smells of the sweat of 20 people who have not washed their hair in weeks.

There are some accidents and crime cases involving ojeks when you read the criminal section of a news portal.

One time, I flew off a motorbike because a cat crossed the street (but I certainly could not be mad at the ojek guy for liking cats as much as I do).

The proposal, marriage and navigating a lifetime together

Entering the digital era, hailing an ojek on meant the relationship was becoming serious. Our love became defined by the rise of Go-Jek, one of Indonesia’s first unicorn startups.

Go-jek was the proposal, but in recent months, it has become clear we are now married. Why?

The fintech evolution.

I used evolution in lieu of revolution because the adoption of cashless payment in this market is so slow we are not even sure if it is actually happening.

I have heard stories about Chinese investors expressing shock when they discover how people in Jakarta are still very dependent on the use of cash; one investor pointed out that fishermen in the rural villages are already using WeChat.

I have seen my colleague’s despair when having to count the last remaining coins in his pocket to pay for a meal in the city, netizens tweeting about their refusal to put their money in “anything but their wallet or bank accounts.”

I too have rolled my eyes often whenever I try to use a cashless payment service in the nearest mini mart … and the only response I got from the cashier was something along the line of “system is offline”. Or other similarly tiring situation.

Banks, telcos, and startups are working hard to introduce cashless payment. Naturally, we have been expecting the fintech revolution to start from services from these companies.

But we have yet to see something that really sticks.

The TransJakarta bus system has used e-money, more people are getting the Mandiri e-Toll Card and sometimes a friend will be sporting Tcash on their smartphone. The long-awaited national payment gateway finally has a launch date.

While the base is already there, we are still waiting for the plane to actually take off.

Following a cryptic update on the Go-Jek app profile in Apple App Store and Google Play Store, Go-Jek confirmed that the company is currently developing Go-Pay to be able to be used for transaction with merchant partners.

To complement that, the company is also introducing Go-Resto to their driver-partners. This is a feature that will allows drivers of their food delivery service Go-Food to pay for order in restaurants using Go-Pay instead of cash; this update seems to complement well with their first plan.

Go-Jek competitor Grab has also just confirmed a US$2 billion funding round led by Didi Chuxing and SoftBank Group, with an additional US$500 million coming up. A great part of this investment will be used to further develop their cashless payment system GrabPay; so hopefully we will also hear something exciting soon. Especially considering Grab’s ties with retail giant Lippo Group. Maybe one day I can finally get to GrabPay to shop in Books&Beyond?

My imagination ran wild at the prospect of this. Finally. Soon the day will come when I get to use Go-Pay for things! My life is going to be as easy as using the EZ-Link card whenever I travel to Singapore for work!

This great prospect of change is brought to you by ride-hailing startups instead of banks, telcos, and fintech startups.

Convincing the family they should support the marriage

For every couple, the family might be the biggest roadblock for love. It’s a big deal to convince them that what was once a boyfriend/girlfriend is a person worthy of growing into a life partner.

I guess this is where Go-Jek is doing something right.

Go-jek did not make a user install an app and wonder where they can use it. The company did not pre-installed the app so new phone-owners would stare at the app sitting on the home screen without any clear purpose.

Instead, their strategy was to subtly make cashless payment system an integral part of a mobile app.

Slowly and surely, the strategy has helped convince the public that using it on a daily basis is a good thing, and that the system will allow users to live life more conveniently.

The transportation sector was a great place to start as it was later able to grow into different branches of services.

Go-jek incentived people to use the system as often as they can, and make sure they open as many options as possible. They filled the service with vouchers available on Go-Points, and the upcoming Go-Pay merchant partners.

Finally I have a strong reason to be optimistic about where Indonesia is heading with cashless payments.

And this evolution is delivered by our beloved ojek.

Let us take this love affair public.

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Image Credit: fightbegin / 123RF Stock Photo

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