ITB to Keep Collaborating with Danacita amid Furors over Online Lending for Tuition Fees

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - State university Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) stated that it would continue to maintain the collaboration between PT Inclusive Finance Group (Danacita) as a single tuition fee (UKT) payment option for students.

"We will not (end the collaboration) because there is no problem with the practices carried out because it is the market," ITB deputy chancellor for finance, planning, and development Muhammad Abduh said in Bandung on Wednesday, January 31.

Abduh even said that the university is opening its doors to other fintech companies for collaboration in providing tuition fee payment services. 

Furthermore, he said that the collaboration with Danacita aims to help students who have difficulty paying tuition fees. ITB, he said, did not profit at all from this collaboration.

"Danacita's collaboration with ITB is to help students who have financial problems, it has nothing to do with income for ITB, as ITB's income comes when the student pays," he said.

Nevertheless, Abduh emphasized the importance of having the Financial Services Authority (OJK) supervise fintech institutions in Indonesia.

Many Are Rejected

ITB finance director Anas Ma'ruf said that in its implementation, Danacita strictly selects which students can borrow from them. 

"Of all loan applications, more were rejected than accepted because this is a non-collateral lending system, thus Danacita will definitely carry out strict screening," Anas said.

ITB had come under fire on social media for offering students to pay their tuition fees using a payment plan facilitated by Danacita. The issue went viral following a post by X user @ITBfess. On Monday, hundreds of students marched to ITB's rectorate building on Monday to protest the online lending option.

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