Indonesian ride-hailing app Go-Jek buys three fintech startups

Go-Jek, Indonesia’s answer to Uber, has acquired three fintech startups as it bids to establish itself as a major digital payments player.

The firm has acquired offline payments processing outfit Kartuku, online payments gateway Midtrans, and lending network Mapan for undisclosed amounts.

Launched in Jakarta in 2015 a motorbike taxi hail-riding service, Go-Jek has expanded to four wheel services and now claims 15 million weekly active users.

The company has also built up a substantial digital wallet business, working with more than 125,000 merchants and processing over 100 million transactions a month.

The new acquisitions are designed to help Go-Jek create a full payment ecosystem for banks, SMEs, drivers and consumers – both banked and unbanked.

Andre Soelistyo, president, Go-Jek, says: “The year 2018 will be the year that Go-Pay will expand beyond the Go-Jek ecosystem, providing secure, convenient, easy and reliable payment services both offline and online.”

Earlier this year, rival Southeast Asian ride-hailing app Grab bought Indonesian digital payments outfit Kudo in a deal rumoured to be worth up to $100 million.