Bank of Indonesia grants joint digital currency license for fund transfers, remittances

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Alchemy Pay and Berkah Digital’s BDPAY have been issued a joint license by the Bank of Indonesia to operate fund transfers and remittances for residents.

In a statement on Alchemy Pay’s blog, the license obtained is a Payment Service Provider – License Category 3, which will allow the digital currency service providers to dabble in mainstream financial services. A quick search on the central bank’s portal reveals the license status as operational, giving the Singapore-based Alchemy Pay access to Indonesia’s financial ecosystem.

“Alchemy Pay, and fintech firm, PT Berkah Digital Pembayaran, announce that they have jointly obtained Indonesian licences issued by the Central Bank of Indonesia to operate remittances and fund transfers. These licences will greatly increase the ability for these entities to payout to end users and clients across Asia as well as reduce the operating costs of their payment services.,” the announcement read.

Alchemy Pay, founded in 2018, became a payment solutions provider that seamlessly connects users to fiat and digital currencies. Aside from providing digital payment on-and-off ramps, Alchemy Pay upped its offering with non-fungible token (NFT) checkouts to DLT-based platforms.

It appears that the collaboration between the two entities will rely on Berkah Digital’s BDPay, which allows users to send funds to multiple accounts at significantly lower costs than conventional methods. With the ability to connect bank APIs, BDPay’s users can transfer and receive funds from over 130 banks in Indonesia with same-day transfers.

It is widely expected that a combination of their features would allow the platform’s users to purchase digital assets using fiat currencies. Alchemy Pay’s on-ramp support for Apple Pay, Google Pay, Mastercard (NASDAQ: MA), and several regional mobile wallets has been touted to present a wealth of options for Indonesians.

Sweeping changes but still running a tight ship

Indonesian financial regulators are scrambling to patch up a flawed digital currency industry that bore the brunt of Terra and FTX implosions. In order to avoid repeating the losses suffered by Indonesians, new regulations are being hurled at the ecosystem, the most poignant being the proposed classification of digital assets as securities.

“We must admit that this shift has shown a good understanding from the regulator that crypto assets are broader than just trading,” Asih Karnengsih, an executive at ABI, said.

Other changes put together by regulators include a rule for at least two-thirds of the boards of digital currency firms to be made up of Indonesians and the requirement of firms to use third-party services to store customer funds.

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