Ayoconnect, an Indonesia-based open finance API platform, has on Tuesday announced a strategic partnership with Mastercard to modernize bank account-based payments and co-create open finance solutions in Indonesia.

Both parties said in a statement statement that the new solution that the partners are working on will offer consumers a seamless payment experience on merchant’s checkout that is simple and secure, debited directly from consumers’ preferred bank accounts.

The solution will also enable consumers to manage their bill payments more efficiently, and billers on the other hand will enjoy guaranteed timely payments.

Cited the Mastercard New Payments Index 2022, both parties said that consumers in the Asia Pacific region remain among the most enthusiastic adopters of digital payments in the world, with 69 percent of them increasing their usage of at least one digital payment method in the last year.

Cited research from Statista, they also noted the increasing digital payment transactions in Indonesia which reflects the population’s growing digital financial literacy.

Cited Statista, they also forecasted that the number of digital payment users in Indonesia will continue to grow, with e-commerce and mobile payments increasing by over 45 percent and 18 percent respectively from 2022 to 2027.

According to them, as consumer expectations for a seamless payment experience rise, the fast-evolving open banking landscape has the potential to make the process simpler and more secure while boosting economic growth and financial inclusion, particularly in Indonesia, where 51 percent of the population is unbanked.

With open banking, they said the unbanked population in the country will be able to get access to various financial products, as open banking spurs the creation of alternative and innovative solutions that are more accessible to consumers.

Moreover, they opined that consumers can have full access to their digital financial footprint and use their financial data to gain a better understanding of their overall financial position, from savings and deposits to spending habits and monthly payments such as paying bills directly from their bank account.

In addition to providing a seamless payment experience, they said the new solution that Ayoconnect and Mastercard are working on will offer better customer protection and dispute resolution capabilities, which are not typical in account-to-account payments. Another benefit of this solution is the ability for billers to remove recurring payment obstacles, reduce drop-offs during checkout and ensure timely collections by offering their consumers a frictionless experience.

According to them, this partnership will leverage Ayoconnect’s connectivity to the open banking APIs of the country’s largest banks, as well as Mastercard’s leading security capabilities including tokenization, cyber intelligence and anti-fraud technology to offer a more streamlined experience with enhanced transaction security.

The launch and implementation of this new solution will be piloted in 2023 with a select set of merchants.

In addition to the above payment solution, Ayoconnect and Mastercard will also collaborate on building open finance solutions that can deliver improved credit decisioning and drive financial inclusion.

This solution will combine Mastercard’s open banking and data and services capabilities with Ayoconnect’s established connectivity with financial institutions and insights from its payments ecosystem data.

“The main focal point of accelerating Indonesia’s payments ecosystem is a collaboration between all sectors, industries, and stakeholders,” said Jakob Rost, Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Ayoconnect.

According to him, open banking that is embedded in the open finance ecosystem creates opportunities to leverage the potential for businesses to improve their customer experience.

“Having gained the trust of Mastercard is an embodiment of our commitment to building the infrastructure layer that enables interoperability of the open finance ecosystem for a better, faster, and more secure digital payments experience,

“Furthermore, such essential collaboration in the API ecosystem could foster innovation and data-sharing mechanisms that comply with prevailing regulations. Moving forward, Ayoconnect’s APIs will continue to empower the growth of Indonesia’s businesses,” he added.

Meanwhile, PT Mastercard Indonesia Navin Jain President Director said consumer needs in this digital era are evolving rapidly, with consumers demanding seamless, frictionless experiences.

“Open banking puts businesses and consumers at the center of where and how their financial data is used and further access to services they want and need,” he said.

According to him, this strategic partnership with Ayoconnect allows Mastercard to bring enhanced value for the ecosystem participants and be at the forefront of innovation by bringing solutions faster to market.

“This collaboration is aligned with Mastercard’s priorities to offer a wide range of payment solutions that are easy to access, frictionless and secure, and at the same time supporting Indonesia’s economic development,” he added.

Indonesia’s Ayoconnect raises $13M Series B+ led by SIG Venture Capital