Indonesia and Tony Blair Institute unveil roadmap to bridge financial inclusion gap

A new study from the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change (TBI), launched in partnership with the Gates Foundation and Indonesia’s Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs, aims to help close the country’s financial inclusion gap as it reaches toward high-income status.

Released at the inaugural Indonesia International Financial Inclusion Summit (IFIS), the 85-page Financial Inclusion Mapping Study highlights where and why millions still lack access to basic financial services like bank accounts, credit, and digital payments.

The report was introduced by TBI senior manager Willy Limiady in an online post as well. The country’s digital ID, biometrics and digital payments were also discussed at the IFIS summit (more below).

Just 76.3 percent of Indonesian adults hold bank accounts. Since data gaps remain, the exact verified number for the unbanked population is unknown but it’s estimated to be in the tens of millions.

Indonesia is aiming for developed and high-income status in 15 years, but this goal could be thrown off unless financial inclusion is tackled. Access is connected to inequality reduction, entrepreneurship levels and sustainable economic growth.

The consequences are profound: no savings for emergencies, no financing to grow small businesses, and no secure place to store earnings. Vulnerable groups, such as women entrepreneurs, people with disabilities, rural communities and the elderly, are often most impacted.

For example, only about 27 percent of female-owned SMEs receive formal financing, which limits their ability to grow and create jobs. Around 78 percent of the 20 million Indonesians with disabilities lack access to financial services. Indonesia’s geography, which spans more than 17,000 islands, presents additional challenges with gaps in connectivity and infrastructure in rural and remote areas.

While online lending platforms — known as pinjol — are expanding rapidly, inadequate regulation has exposed consumers to unsafe and risky practices. By early 2025, outstanding debts from digital lenders had surged to over IDR 80 trillion ($4.9 billion), an increase of 29 percent year-over-year. These pinjol platforms include both legal and unregistered, illegal operators that run without consumer protections and regulation.

To tackle these challenges, the study outlines strategies to close the gap for marginalized communities, the so-called last mile of financial inclusion. The study, conducted over six months, targets both supply and demand, and supports President Prabowo Subianto’s objective of universal bank-account ownership.

It includes strategies for how to reach vulnerable groups, and how to develop financial products designed for these groups’ needs. It recommends building a more inclusive digital finance ecosystem, improving financial literacy, strengthening consumer protections, and changing how social assistance is distributed.

The Indonesian government plans to use the study as a roadmap for reforms and investments, ensuring marginalized groups are not left behind in the country’s economic transformation. TBI said it is also working with another ministry to deploy “innovative technology at scale” to support the government’s social-assistance programme.

The full report is available in Bahasa Indonesia here.

QRIS powers Indonesia’s inclusive digital finance push

While the financial gap remains, Indonesia has made progress in closing it over the past five years, with 76.3 percent of the population now holding accounts with formal financial institutions and 88.7 percent using formal financial services, according to a report by Bank Indonesia (BI).

Driving this progress is the Quick Response Code Indonesian Standard (QRIS), which underpins the country’s digital payment system. QRIS was designed to be accessible across the economic spectrum.

“Small businesses like ‘tukang bakso’ [meatball soup stall] or any other food hawkers have taken advantage of QRIS to accept payments simply by having a banking app and sticking a QR code sticker on their carts,” said Dicky Kartikoyono, Bank Indonesia’s Head of Payment System Policy Department.

Kartikoyono was speaking during a panel at the Indonesia International Financial Inclusion Summit 2025 in Jakarta, organised by TBI in collaboration with the Gates Foundation and Indonesia’s Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs, BI, and the Financial Services Authority (OJK).

QRIS has seen average transaction growth of over 150 percent over the past five years, with 65 billion transactions reaching a value of IDR 658 trillion ($40.62 billion). Fraud rates have remained low, at just one percent nationally.

However, as digital adoption accelerates, so too do concerns around cyber fraud. Brooke Patterson, Indonesia Lead for Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) and Inclusive Financial Systems at the Gates Foundation, stressed the need to protect consumers in the face of evolving threats.

“People will only continue to use financial services if they feel the system is trustworthy,” he said (via Gov Insider). Brooke advocates for biometric-based digital IDs to balance system security, ease of use and consumer protection.

Patterson highlighted the need to reach underserved groups, particularly women, people with disabilities, and residents in remote regions. For women especially, he noted, financial needs are often overlooked despite making up half the population.

He called for digital infrastructure encompassing digital IDs, connectivity and digital payment systems and the integration of targeted programs like food assistance into digital banking to boost efficiency and inclusion.

Friderica Widyasari, OJK’s Chief Executive of Market Conduct, Supervision, Financial Education, and Consumer Protection, echoed those concerns. She pointed out that limited financial literacy and access often leave women, informal sector workers, farmers and fishermen vulnerable to predatory lending.

Under the 2024 Law on the Development and Strengthening of the Financial Sector (UU P2SK), OJK has strengthened market conduct supervision, compliant handling and eliminating illegal financial activities.

The regulation drove the creation of OJK’s Satgas PASTI (Task Force for Handling Illegal Financial Activities) and the Indonesia Anti-Scam Centre in November 2024.

Widyasari emphasised collaboration between regulators and financial institutions in educating consumers. “If you open a digital service, you must also accompany your customers. Educate them, walk with them,” she said.

A nationwide financial literacy and inclusion program disseminated through some 2,500 financial institutions in Indonesia aims to expand awareness across different regions of the huge, archipelagic country; prioritizing outreach beyond Jakarta to underserved provinces like Papua and Maluku.

Shuhaela Haqim, Indonesia Director at TBI, said that while developing a fully integrated digital ID system will require substantial investment, the benefits are clear.

“I encourage the government to place its trust in the enormous potential of digital ID, as India and Singapore have done, which are currently reaping the economic benefits of DPI,” she said. “We already have stakeholders; we already have the system. All that’s left is to consistently implement the policies that have been established.”

Article Topics

digital ID  |  digital public infrastructure  |  financial inclusion  |  financial services  |  Gates Foundation  |  Indonesia  |  QR code  |  Quick Response Code Indonesian Standard (QRIS)  |  Tony Blair Institute