Forbes Indonesia — August 2017

AUGUST 2017 FORBES INDONESIA | 53

CEKAJA

A

merican John Patrick El-

lis, 36, founded financial

comparison site CekAja

in 2013 to allow potential

customers to have a quick and easy

way to compare financial products

online. John chose the name because

it means “check it out” in Indone-

sia. “Financial matters can be boring

or intimidating. We want to make it

simple to understand, and easily ac-

cessible. We can break down the bar-

riers,” says John.

Customers can look at side-by-

side comparison of products such as

credit cards, which can be a time-

consuming and confusing process

if done offline. Other products that

can be compared on the site are

mortgage loans, vehicle loans, in-

surance policies and mutual funds.

If a visitor is interested to buy a

product, the site will connect the

buyer with the financial service

company selling it.

For all of 2016, CekaAja got 20

million visitors, up 1,600% from

2015. The month-on-month growth
      is now about 35%. Monthly transac-
      tion reaches 80,000, generating $150
      million monthly in gross application
      value, which is rising at 30% a month.
      To monetize the site, CekAja earns a
      success fee from banks and insurance
      company for clickthroughs converted
      into customers. For some partners,
      CekAja contributes 20% of their total
      bookings in a month.
      In total, the site partners with
      more than 100 financial partners,
      including some of the country’s larg-
      est banks, such as Bank Mandiri, BNI
      and CIMB Niaga. The partners sup-
      port the site because it helps with
      customer acquisition. To diversify
      his business, John established C88
      Financial Technologies in 2013 as Ce-
      kAja’s parent company in Singapore.
      Two years after starting CekAja in
      Indonesia, he set up the site eCom-
      pareMo in the Philippines, which
      provide a service similar to CekAja.
      Compare88 also co-operates Premiro,

a licensed insurance e-brokerage ser-

vices provider in Indonesia.

After John discovered many visi-

tors wanted mutual funds, he signed

an agreement with online market-

place Bareksa to sell funds listed on its

site in a partnership deal. To expand

its reach, CekAja also partners with

To ko p e d i a , Ju a l o, a n d O ra m i a l l ow-

ing the portals to sell various financial

products to their customers, which

will then be processed by CekAja.

John has experience in financial

services in Indonesia, as he previ-

ously worked in private equity firm

Quvat Capital Partners with current

BKPM head Thomas Lembong. He

was graduated from Columbia Uni-

versity, majoring in international re-

lations, moving to Indonesia in 2005

as a Volunteers in Asia (VIA) fellow,

where he worked in Flores. He be-

came fluent in Indonesia and even

learned some Manggarai dialect.

Initially, CekAja was concentrat-

ed on the Jakarta market, but real-

izing that the penetration of credit

cards in Jakarta was already almost

30%—compared to 5% elsewhere,

John shifted the site’s coverage to

outside Jakarta. Now CekAja has

representative offices in six cities

outside Jakarta: Bandung, Denpas-

ar, Makassar, Medan, Palembang,

Semarang and Surabaya. John is also

working on creating a unique type of

insurance for Indonesia. “We have a

startup soul, we like to keep innovat-

ing,” says John.

CekAja has received funding from

a slew of top VC firms: Kejora Ven-

tures, Monk’s Hill Ventures, Telstra

Ventures, Altitute Partners, Captii

Ventures, and Zurich-based Moun-

tain Partners. Last year, it closed the

series B round lead by Telstra Ven-

tures for an undisclosed amount of

investment but John says it’s equal

to Silicon Valley standard vestment.

Forbes Indonesia calculates that the

series B investment reached $15 mil-

lion. Although competition in fintech

services is rising, John is optimist

that the pie is big enough for now.

“Any company out there which is en-

couraging more people in the coun-

try to understand financial matters,

that’s good,” says John. F

Bank

BII Maybank

BJB

BNI

BRI

BTN

Bukopin

CIMB Niaga

Citibank

Danamon

DKI

HSBC

Mandiri

Mega

OCBC NISP

Panin

Permata Bank

SCB

Victoria

ANZ

DBS

Amar Bank

Insurance

Avrist

AXA

Chubb

Harta

Malacca

ACA

MNC

Adira

Raksa

AIG

Ramayana

Allianz

Marketplace

Tokopedia

Bareksa

Jualo

Orami

CekAja’s Partners

For all of 2016,

CekaAja got

20 million

visitors, up

1,600% from

2015. The
      month-on-
      month growth
      is now about
      35%.

TOTO SANTIKO BUDI FOR FORBES INDONESIA