Investing in gold with EmasDigi

• Provides a mobile app to invest in, buy, and sell gold
• Registered under the Indonesia Commodity and Derivatives Exchange (ICDX)

INDONESIAN fintech startup EmasDigi enables the investing in as well as buying and selling of gold through mobile applications with easy processes that require little time.

The idea began with EmasDigi chief executive officer and founder Claudia Kolonas selling vouchers which gave people easier access to the gold trading market.

“Today many people think that investing in gold is very troublesome and requires a long process, where people have to go to the gold shop or to the centre of gold to buy it.

“EmasDigi is here to provide easy access to people in big cities and regions, enabling them to buy, sell and invest in gold online, safely and affordably. Our mission is to educate the public about the importance of investing in gold and increasing financial inclusion in Indonesia.”

EmasDigi is affiliated with PT PG Berjangka, which is registered and supervised by the Trade Ministry's Futures Exchange Supervisory Board (Bappebti). This affirms EmasDigi's commitment to consumer protection and ensures compliance with legal provisions in Indonesia.

All consumer transactions will be listed on the Indonesia Commodity and Derivatives Exchange (ICDX), where PT PG Berjangka as a company engaged in the financial services for trade in multilateral commodities will execute futures trading transactions.

Through the app, users may invest in gold at affordable prices and as needed. EmasDigi offers gold purchases of 0.01g and buyers can pay periodically or in installments. They are also able to transfer the gold between each other. The interest rate will fluctuate and is now 11% per year with a tenor from six months to three years. Users have to invest in a minimum in 5g of gold.

In order to purchase gold, users can top up funds into ‘GoDompet’. Users can use bank transfers (virtual account) and Doku’s e-wallet. In addition, EmasDigi users can withdraw gold deposits into Doku’s e-wallet with a maximum nominal amount in accordance with the maximum balance in the e-wallet.

EmasDigi has served thousands of users and over 20 companies. It works closely with a wholesale gold distributor (name undisclosed) that has connections to offline gold retailers.

Claudia explains that EmasDigi generates revenue from a transaction fee (2%) and claims that the gold prices they offer are lower than the market price because they are listed on exchanges.

She says that the strategy to maintain the business is to watch and monitor “fake” gold investment firms.

“We want to educate our potential users on investing with registered investment companies and we also want to improve our branding.”

Business model

Set up in 2016, EmasDigi began by providing its B2B customers with vouchers to be redeemed as gold or a virtual balance through their platform.

“We served mainly in the rewards market. Then we saw the potential in the retail and individual market and now we focus on B2B and B2C,” explains Claudia.

Claudia initially targeted millennials as their main users, but realizes that most of the users now are housewives.

“Most housewives in Indonesia now use their smartphones to shop or carry out transactions online. They also find it interesting to invest in or trade gold via a mobile app.”

In terms of competition with other fintechs that also provide P2P lending for SMEs and gold pawn services, Claudia says that EmasDigi is more focused on gold as an investment rather than providing pawn services.

EmasDigi received an undisclosed amount of Series A funding led by Celebes Capital and followed by Catur Group.

“The funding will be used for product development, partnerships and marketing.”

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