Hawzah News Agency- In order to support the realization of the Sharia Economic Master Plan carried out by the National Sharia Economics and Finance Committee (KNEKS), Indonesia officially launched LinkAja Syariah services as the first sharia electronic money in Indonesia which facilitates various types of payments according to sharia rules.

Ventje Rahardjo, Executive Director of the National Committee for Sharia Finance Economics said, “Sharia Digital Payment is very helpful in meeting the needs of sharia-compliant community transactions as technology develops and changes in lifestyle patterns so rapidly. Among them are the ease of halal product transactions in e-commerce, payment and distribution of Zakat, Infaq, Alms, Waqf (ZISWAF) as well as other religious social funds.”

The collaboration of LinkAja Syariah, as the only sharia-based digital financial service in Southeast Asia with Muslimat Nadhlatul Ulama, as a socio-religious community organization and one of the Autonomous Bodies of Jam’iyah Nadhlatul Ulama, shows good synergy between the three parties to support and realizing the government’s program to achieve financial inclusion in Indonesia. Through this collaboration, LinkAja provides Nahdlatut Tujjar Digital Syariah financial services on the LinkAja Syariah platform and facilitates the general public and the Nahdliyin community do not have access to banking: a complete digital financial service that follows sharia principles. This service is able to facilitate various needs of the Nahdliyin community, such as: essential needs, solutions for Friday alms and infaq for fellow members, and as a solution for distributing government funds and pre-employment incentives.

LinkAja Sharia Service is also the first and only that received a DSN MUI certificate after the issuance of the DSN MUI Fatwa No.116 / DSN-MUI / IX / 2017 concerning sharia e-money, as well as permission to develop server-based electronic money products from Bank Indonesia.

In its implementation, LinkAja Syariah Services prioritizes several basic principles, namely the placement of funds in cooperation with a number of Islamic banks, applying transaction procedures in accordance with sharia principles, and can be accepted at all LinkAja merchants. At present, LinkAja Syariah Services has collaborated with more than 242 institutions and ZISWAF distribution institutions, more than 1,000 mosques, Islamic boarding schools, as well as several e-commerce and offline merchants partners.

LinkAja is an interbank network in Indonesia. It connects four state owned banks and Telkomsel. The banks are Bank Mandiri, Bank Tabungan Negara, BNI 46, and Bank Rakyat Indonesia. This network is owned by State-owned Banks Association (HIMBARA, providing cash withdrawal and inquiry services in their network. On March 26, 2020, LinkAja partnered with Telcoin, an instant, low-cost blockchain powered remittance service. This partnership is set to explore cashless opportunities in LinkAjas area of operation.