A payment platform and cross-bank transfer startup, Flip, closed a $48 million (688 Billion Rupiah) Series B funding led by Sequoia Capital India, Insight Partners and Insignia Venture Partners. The investment marks Insight Partners’  debut in Indonesia for the New York-based global private equity and venture capital firm.

There is no further information on Flip’s latest valuation, yet the total $65 million since its seed has taken the company into the centaur list valued at over $100 million, following OY!, the closest competitor.

Previously, Flip’s series A in 2020 was led by Sequoia Capital India and the seed funding round in 2019 was co-chaired by Sequoia Capital India and Insignia Ventures Partners.

Flip is to use the fresh money to accelerate business expansion, strengthen operations in Indonesia, invest in technology to deliver better quality, and develop talent focusing on engineering and product teams.

“We are honored to receive the trust and continuous support of our partners. We are also pleased to welcome a leading global private equity and venture capital firm, Insight Partners, which has proven successful in the global financial technology industry landscape. We believe that this partnership will help us in pursuing growth and realizing our vision to present the fairest financial product in Indonesia,” Flip’s Founder and President Director, Rafi Putra Arriyan in an official statement, Wednesday (8/12).

Sequoia India’s VP, Aakash Kapoor said bank transfers are the most dominant payment method in Indonesia’s rapidly growing digital economy. Flip has a large and fast-growing user base with remarkably good retention metrics.

“Partnering with more than 50 fintech companies and some of the distribution-first payment unicorns, Sequoia Capital India believes that Flip is the most attractive consumer fintech company in Indonesia. We are very pleased to co-lead the third consecutive round as a testimony to our high confidence in Flip,” Kapoor said.

Flip has grown significantly amidst the increasing adoption of the technology. The company has served more than seven million users to process various types of financial transactions from various regions in Indonesia as well as abroad remittances.

In addition, Flip provides business solutions for hundreds of companies with various industry scales, including MSMEs (Small and Medium Enterprises), through cash disbursement and remittance services such as employee payroll, customer refunds, invoice/supplier payments, and international transfers.

This solution was created due to several obstacles faced by bank account owners in Indonesia when transferring money. Starting from the convenience of using the product, admin fees for different bank transfers, seamless transaction and faster process.

Rafi also mentioned, there is still room to renew and simplify various financial transactions. “Flip seeks to help individuals and businesses minimize the complexity of these transactions and reduce money transfer cost.”

Flip’s ambition is to become the world’s most customer-centric financial technology company and enable users to make fair financial transactions from anywhere to anyone.

Some of Flip’s main products include online P2P payments with bank transfers to more than 100 domestic banks, international remittances, top-up e wallet and other business solutions. It is claimed that Flip’s  transaction value has reached more than IDR 2 trillion per month.

BI Fast

The central bank is aware of the high transfer fees that consumers often complain as they make digital transaction. In response to this, Bank Indonesia recently launched a new system called BI Fast to reduce interbank transfer fees.

Through BI Fast, registered cross-bank transfer fees have been reduced from IDR 6,500 to IDR 2,500 per transaction. This system will be valid on December 2021 in 22 banks at an early stage. BI Fast is a real-time retail payment system that operates 24/7 replacing the Bank Indonesia’s National Clearing System (SKNBI).

Next, there will be more banks register as participants. Also, it is stated in the regulation that banks that can become BI Fast participants are conventional commercial banks, Islamic commercial banks, sharia business units, and branch offices of foreign banks in Indonesia.

BI Fast will certainly become a threat to both Flip and OY!. Flip alone does not charge an administration fee for individual customers with a nominal transfer of under IDR 5 million a day. If the transaction is at the maximum threshold, the user will be charged at IDR 2,500 per transaction. It is the exact nominal charged by BI Fast.

Recently, the company has provided 24-hour operational hours to provide users with more flexible access to transfer funds at several banks. Previously, Flip has limited its operating hours from 7am to 8pm.