VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Vice President Ma'ruf Amin at the LinkAja Sharia event on Friday (April 22, 2022). (ANTARA/Arnidhya Nur Z/rst) - 

The increased potential of digital finance, including the use of electronic money, is expected to encourage national economic growth, in general, Vice President Ma'ruf Amin has said.

"The great potential of the digital economy, including electronic money, is able to encourage national economic growth. Digital sharia economic services are also expected to support national economic resilience and become an accelerator of development in the economic sector," Amin remarked at the LinkAja Sharia event on Friday.

Data from Bank Indonesia (BI) has shown that electronic money transactions grew 42.06 percent in the first quarter of 2022, he noted.

BI had earlier projected that digital money transactions would swell by 18.03 percent throughout 2022. If this growth is realized, the total electronic money transactions will reach Rp360 trillion for the year.

"This figure is estimated to grow, in line with public acceptance and preference to use electronic money," Amin said.

The increase in electronic money transactions has been driven by a number of factors, including the development of digital technology; changes in people's preference for practical, safe, convenient, and fast transactions; and new ways of transacting that have changed since the COVID-19 pandemic, he added.

"The increasing popularity of electronic money as a payment tool has widened its function to pay bills, taxes, and distributing social funds," Amin noted.

For this reason, the Vice President said he hopes that stakeholders in the digital and Islamic finance industry will play a role in increasing public financial literacy and inclusion.

"We hope it will be able to provide trust and tranquility for the community by optimizing the role and potential of its services with a commitment to maintain security and benefits," he emphasized.

With electronic money gaining traction, there is a need to increase protection against the risk of cybercrime, while still catering to the needs of a dynamic society, he said.

Amin further said he hopes that state-owned digital financial platforms such as LinkAja Sharia can further expand collaboration with various sharia economic actors, especially to support micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and Islamic social funds//ANT