Snapshot: Implementing Mobile Money Interoperability in Indonesia

This case study provides a snapshot of the mobile money interoperability in Indonesia. Specifically, it studies how three independent mobile operators worked together to make real-time transfers across their mobile money deployments a reality. The three mobile operators, Telkomsel, Indosat, and XL, joined hands in May 2013 to provide a mobile money customer the option of sending money directly to an account, or m-wallet, in a mobile money scheme of another network. The study makes the following observations:

• Operators are anticipating rapid uptake of the service. Predictions have been made that 52 million mobile money users will conduct transaction volumes of USD 42 billion and generate service revenues of almost USD 2 billion by 2017;
• Market conditions in Indonesia offer strong potential for mobile financial services;
• Interoperability was achieved in Indonesia thanks to CEO commitment, strong technical teams collaborating across operators, and mobile money managers designing robust ‘standard operating procedures to address customer service and risk management;
• Industry is counting on continued regulatory backing from Bank Indonesia to provide a competitive payments landscape for both banks and non-banks.