TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Financial Services Authority's (OJK) board of commissioners' chairman Wimboh Santoso said the regulator and the government will create a fintech center to support the development of digital economy.

Speaking as a guest lecturer at the University of Indonesia's Faculty of Economics on Friday, Wimboh said the fintech center aims at fostering and overseeing all fintech companies in Indonesia. This is to prevent holes in the arrangement and supervision of the fintech industry.

Read: OJK to Issue Regulation for Financial Technology Companies

Wimboh said that digital economy is unavoidable and has become a need. Fintech companies, he said, exist to provide services in various fields, including banking systems.

Nevertheless, he added, fintechs must also protect consumers and all fintech companies must be licensed and supervised. "The providers have to be registered; they cannot issue a product without permits".

Read: OJK to Monitor Fintech

If all companies are licensed, they become more transparent to the public and the government. This is also aimed at protecting customers.

Wimboh said there are currently 24 peer-to-peer (P2P) lending companies with permits. Sixteen of them are local companies and eight are international.

Thirty-one more P2P lending companies have also applied to get licenses from the OJK.

MUHAMMAD HENDARTYO