OJK Closes Saling Jaga

The Indonesian Financial Service Authority (OJK) has closed down a mutual aid platform called Saling Jaga, citing its lack of an insurance license. Saling Jaga was created by Kitabisa, an online donation platform for social causes backed by early-stage investor 500 Startups. 

According to OJK, the company has agreed to shutter its mutual aid platform until it gets an insurance license. Kitabisa previously said that Saling Jaga had been registered with OJK Fintech Sandbox. The startup runs its donation platform under a license from Indonesia’s Ministry of Social Affairs.

On its website, the startup stated that Saling Jaga can’t accept new members right now, but existing members can still access new information through Kitabisa’s app.

Saling Jaga is similar to Ant Group’s Xiang Hu Bao and Tencent-backed Waterdrop in China, where participants can receive medical coverages as long as they agree to pitch in with other participants’ medical expenses.

Kitabisa says that the platform has attracted 650,000 members in March 2021. To date, it has disbursed 2 billion rupiahs (around US$140,000) to 500 members diagnosed with critical illnesses, including Covid-19.