Robocash Group announced the launch of sharia compliant service Penyaluran Dana Syariah (PDS), which is a sharia compliant funding facility. The service has been developed from the ground up in partnership with the financing company Reliance Finance and close consultation with Sharia Supervisory Board (Dewan Pengawas Syariah). Operated by the legal entity PT Usaha Pembiayaan Reliance Indonesia (REFI), the product falls under the supervision of the Financial Services Authority (OJK) and the Sharia National Board in Indonesia. The launched service PDS will provide access to fintech products for the millions of Indonesians following Shariah principles, or the Islamic shariah law. The fundamentals include sharing of risk, profits and loss and prohibition of interest (riba).

According to the Islamic Finance Development Report, in 2023, the global Islamic finance industry is projected to grow to USD 3.8 trillion in assets from USD 2.4 trillion in 2017. However, considering that Indonesia has the largest Muslim population in the world, the country is only on the 6th place in the Islamic Finance Country Index 2018.

Speaking about the start of the service PDS, Denny Karim, Reliance Group Marketing Director said, “When we looked at the personal financing market in Indonesia, we saw many attractive products, but a very low degree of Syariah adoption. We decided to make it our goal to ensure financial inclusion for this exciting technology to our millions of customers who follow Sharia principles. However, with powerful technology comes responsibility. We believe that all financial services are a partnership, which should benefit all parties. We are committed to offering a range of financial services and – where appropriate – financial education, to help our customers make the best possible financial decisions.”

In the announcement of the expansion to Indonesia, Sergey Sedov, Chief Executive Officer of Robocash Group added, “We are very positive about the future of the Indonesian fintech market. The overall digital adoption and initiatives supporting the industry will definitely allow the country to see an exponential growth of the market volumes and attract more investments. However, the focus should always stay on customers and their needs. Strengthened by the local expertise of Reliance Finance, we have customized technologies of Robocash Group for the market so that they provide the best user experience.”

The service PDS has combined technology-enabled application process, which requires adding only an identity card (KTP) and a selfie, with artificial intelligence applied in scoring and fraud detection filters to offer an advance up to USD 715 (IDR 10,000,000) in a few minutes. The advance can be paid directly to a bank account or e-wallet, or withdrawn as cash in one of the participating outlets.

PDS is fully supported by Reliance Capital Management (RCM) as a holding company, which covers several financial services companies including PT Usaha Pembiayaan Reliance Indonesia (Reliance Finance). In 2014, PT Reliance Capital Management has received investment from Leapfrog Investment, a global investor company that has invested heavily in companies in Asia and Africa.