MAKING financial transaction activities easier for market workers and apartment residents was Gina and Jajang’s initial intention to become BRILink agents at Pasar Kemiri, Depok, West Java. The husband and wife couple did not expect that this intention would also have a positive impact on their family’s economy.
Gina and Jajang decided to turn their simple shop into a BRILink agent location in 2022. “Starting from 2022 in January. I happened to know the mantri, I asked around, then I was directed to become a BRILink. So I saw people and wanted to have something on the side,” said Gina when approached at her shop Thursday (21/3) evening.
From Media Indonesia’s monitoring, the BRILink agent named Warung Gina Handayani appears to be busy as a resting place for market workers. Gina admitted that because her business is located in a busy location, her shop is never empty of customers.
He also does not deny that his income doubled after becoming a BRILink agent at the Kemiri Market. Market traders and residents of Margonda Residence 5 Depok Apartments often carry out financial transactions at their place, followed by shopping for snacks or just sipping coffee.
In one day, said Gina, there are at least 30 BRILink Agent transactions at her place. Cash withdrawals and refilling digital wallet (e-wallet) balances are the transactions most frequently carried out by customers.
Gina also admitted that she had no difficulty running the BRILink Agent. He feels lucky because the majority of his customers understand how and what kind of financial transactions can be carried out at his place.
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When he first became a BRILink agent, he spread messages via WhatsApp to market traders. It didn’t take long for financial transactions to start flooding the stall located in the corner of Pasar Kemiri.
“We open non-stop, taking turns on duty (with my husband). Usually at night there starts to be a lot of activity. So far there have been no problems, it’s going smoothly,” said Gina.
Gina is a BRILink Partner UMi Agent who also focuses on distributing ultra-micro loans from PT Bank Rakyat Indonesia (Persero) Tbk. to society. BRILink agents who are UMi Partners can distribute two services, namely Ultra Micro Service Centers (SenyuM) and Fast Credit loans (KeCe).
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Usually, continued Gina, customers who use the SenyuM and KeCe facilities are overflow from the BRI Depok Branch Office. “I mainly input data here for those who borrow it. For example, if someone borrows it, the orderly directs him here, then I input the data. That’s quite a lot, there are some every day,” he explained.
“That’s from SenyuM and from KeCe. This is for people and customers alike, the highest is IDR 60 million. Zaya here just input the data, later it will be disbursed at the bank, depending on the assessment from the bank too,” he added. Gina.
Thanks to the partnership with BRI, Gina and her husband have additional income. Little by little they began to renovate their house. Both of them no longer have to worry about meeting their daily needs or looking for capital for their shop.
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“So I can fulfill my needs, I can buy whatever I want now. So I thought, why am I only now becoming an agent, why not before,” said Gina with a chuckle.
Apart from increasing income, becoming a BRILink agent is also seen as a way to make people’s affairs easier by Jajang. The reason, said Jajang, is that the market location behind the apartment is not close to an ATM or bank.
According to him, market workers and apartment residents clearly prefer to make transactions at their stalls, instead of having to use vehicles or cross the Margonda highway to get to the ATM.
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“The existence of BRILink can help, ease people’s transaction matters here, around the main market. Because there are no banks or even ATMs around here,” he said.
Target From Smallest
BRILink Agent is an innovation carried out by BRI to reach the entire community, especially those who have difficulty accessing banking facilities. This innovation was launched by the company at the end of 2014.
Not just being an extension of providing bank facility services, BRILink agents also play an active role in encouraging increased financial inclusion and literacy in the country.
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The presence of the BRILink Partner UMi Agent also confirms BRI’s focus on empowering the community’s economy from the smallest, even to the ultra-micro. BRI Micro Business Director Supari stated that the presence of the BRILink Partner UMi Agent is expected to be able to build a micro-scale economic ecosystem.
So, the big hope is that business actors, especially micro and ultra-micro scale, can have business capital without having to deal with loan sharks. The presence of BRILink Agents was also appreciated by President Joko Widodo.
The Head of State assesses that the current number of BRILink agents, which has reached 740 thousand, can take over the financial needs of the community from loan sharks. Therefore, BRI is encouraged to continue to strengthen the existence of these services.
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This encouragement was also given by the Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani Indrawati. He said that MSMEs have a big role in the economy, but many are still not reached by banks. Therefore, he asked AgenBRILink to increase access to financing for the 29 million MSMEs who are still unreached.
“I hope that BRI will penetrate through the BRILink Agent and that it doesn’t even need a building to operate, the agent is also identical to the shop owner,” said Sri Mulyani.
BRI President Director Sunarso said, as an effort to reach a wider community in order to encourage financial inclusion, the company has prepared a hybrid banking strategy through the BRILink Agent.
“We developed our network which was previously in the form of branches, but then sometimes people were reluctant to come to the branch, they preferred to come to their neighbors, to the stalls, so our stalls were converted into branches, which is what we call BRILink Agents. And now BRI has has 741 thousand Brilink agents with a transaction volume reaching IDR 1,400 trillion,” he said.
“The BRILink agent is an example of BRI’s transformation strategy to always implement its in-line strategy with concerns about national economic development that does not just grow but is also equitable,” concluded Sunarso. (Mir/Z-7)
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