TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Financial Services Authority (OJK) is targeting to finish drafting the rules on digital-based financial services or financial technology (fintech) providers by March 2018. OJK's board of commissioners' deputy Nurhaida said the rules are currently being discussed.

"We are still gathering information on what needs to be regulated," she said in Jakarta, Wednesday, November 22.

Nurhaida said the OJK is targeting for the rule's initial draft to be completed by December this year.

The fintech regulation would be general, she said, and that they will govern the licensing and operational requirements of every fintech company.

Nurhaida said the fintech industry is growing rapidly, and different types of offered services will likely to surface in the future. Therefore, it is possible that the OJK will issue plenty of rules to govern the industry.

So far, the OJK has issued Regulation No.77/POJK.01/2016 on IT-based lending services, which governs fintechs offering peer-to-peer lending.

Nurhaida once said that the regulator would make about fintech rules a bit loose considering it is a new industry that needs encouragement.

She hopes that the development of fintechs will improve the level of financial inclusion in Indonesia. She said that fintech companies have the advantage of reaching out to people living in areas that cannot be accessed by formal financial services.

M ROSSENO AJI