TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Financial Services Authority (OJK) reported 1,773 illegal fintech companies offering peer-to-peer lending services to the Police's Crimes Division or Bareskrim. The report was filed as a step to follow up on the existence of these illegal fintechs with servers located overseas.

"From 2018 to October 2019, we have found 1,773 [illegal fintechs] that we have asked to be suspended and reported to the Bareskrim," OJK director for policies and investigative support Tongam Lumban Tobing said during a seminar on protecting fintech lenders' consumers in Jakarta, October 29.

The financial service authority made the discovery after cooperating with the Communication and Information Ministry.

According to Tongam, there are only 127 fintechs that are registered with the OJK.

Of the 1.773 fintech illegal, 22 percent have servers in Indonesia, 42 percent unknown, and 36 percent with servers located abroad.

Most of the foreign-based servers are in the US (15%), Singapore (8%), China (6%), Malaysia (2%), as well as Hong Kong and Russia each with 1%, and other nations (3%).

The financial service authority, Tongam said, hoped that the case could be coordinated with the embassies of the countries concerned and the Indonesian Foreign Affairs Ministry.

Tongam ensured that thousands of illegal fintechs had been blocked from operating within Indonesia's internet territory so that people would no longer be able to access them.

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