Money
Honestly, people in Indonesia are already tired of traditional banks these days and who can blame them? These banks keep making decisions like freezing your ATM just because you haven’t used your account in a while. Like, it’s supposed to keep out fraudsters or whatever, but all it really does is make people anxious about their own money. Remember back in July 2025, when the PPATK basically said, “Hey, if you don’t touch your account for three months, we’re locking it down”? Supposedly it’s to stop money laundering, But in reality regular people just end up stressed out.
Especially if you live in remote areas or your income comes and goes, that entire “use it or lose it” approach feels like an unfair treatment. It’s almost like you’re being punished for not being rich enough to move money around all the time. Makes people feel as if their own money is not trulr their Like, at any moment, some distant bank can suddenly restrinct your access. Deeply unfair. Plus, the lack of clear communication and teamwork between agencies about these policies has made things worse, leading folks to think their rights over their own stuff are being trampled. People are extremely worried about whether their money’s actually safe or if they can even access it when they need to.
That whole mess has just made everybody trust banks and the system even less. So now the government is urgently seeking a practical solution-something straightforward, not hidden behind complicated banking jargon. Enter the Digital Rupiah, or as they’re calling it, Project Garuda. Supposedly, it’ll help calm everyone down because it’s government-backed, super transparent, and, honestly, seems far more trustworthy than whatever’s going on with some commercial banks. It’s a pretty big shakeup. Right now, your money’s all tied up in these random banks, but with the CBDC? You’re dealing straight with the central bank.
That’s like having cash in your wallet, but digital-feels much more reliable. It’ll make it super easy for folks to send money without needing to rely on traditional banks, which have been causing many difficulties recently. Plus, since the central bank can control and manage risks with digital currency, it’s gonna help prevent those frustrating account freezes that private banks sometimes impose. And there’ll be clear rules around all this, too. This whole move will not only ease worries about financial control but also put Indonesia at the forefront of global financial trends, giving everyone a sense of modernization and safety that might get more people into the official financial system. Bank Indonesia has pointed out that rolling out Project Garuda in stages is meant to make payment systems better and keep the rupiah strong in this digital age.
However, that suggested solution might not really work in every situation if we can’t close the digital divide properly. Even though Indonesia is super active on social media, a lot of people, especially those living in remote villages, don’t have the basic setup to handle digital payments. Back in 2020, stats showed a big gap-only 9.5% of folks in rural areas had computers compared to 26% in cities. And while more people have phones, many still rely on basic feature phones or dealing with spotty internet. And honestly, it’s not just about having the latest phone or Wi-Fi-digital know-how matters way more than people admit. A lot of older folks or anyone living out in the sticks? They’re not exactly scrolling through tutorials on how to use mobile wallets. Most of them barely mess with tech, so the idea of switching to some fancy new payment app? Yeah, it’s very pintimidating. That mental roadblock is real. If we don’t roll out solid education and really improve the infrastructure to back it up, bringing in a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) could actually just make the gap between tech-savvy cities and digitally left-out rural communities even wider, making financial inequality worse.
And introducing a CBDC comes with some very serious risks that go well beyond digital access. One massive issue is data privacy. A CBDC might provide a safe platform, but as it’s centralized, all transactions might potentially be controlled by one entity – the central bank. Cash was anonymous – with a CBDC it leaves a “digital trail” that might invite state surveillance or other hackers looking to create trouble. Indonesia’s data protection laws are not quite right yet and without adequate cybersecurity laws in place to protect it, introducing a CBDC would expose citizens to risks such as data breaches and having their personal details misused. Another issue is the risk of disintermediation whereby large sums of money move from normal banks to the central bank’s CBDC, which would leave the entire banking system looking fragile. That would make it more difficult for commercial banks to make loans, which would inhibit economic growth. So while introducing a CBDC looks such a good fix to some problems with trust in Indonesia’s financial system, dealing with digital inequality is as big an issue as introducing new financial systems and we really must think carefully about risks inherent in a fully digital money system.
By: Yasmine ‘Aalimatun Naafi’ah
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