Cover Story: Jenny Wiriyanto, CEO of Batumbu

Foto: Dok. Mario Ardi

Meet Jenny Wiriyanto, CEO of Batumbu. Tatler had the chance to exclusively interviewed her during our cover shoot and dug deeper into her vision and mission with Batumbu. To improve the lives of many by connecting people in a sharing economy using financial technology is one of her heart's desires. Her dream started out simple: "Bring about change and improvement for many." Easier said than done. Yet this mantra continues to motivate Jenny Wiriyanto and push her in the right direction. It puts her on a career path in the financial industry, a sector she believes touches all aspects of life. She began working in the banking industry in 1990, which apparently led her on a journey to actualising her dream. 

People embark on a career by default. For Jenny, her career was designed deliberately. The banking industry suited not only her character but also her ambition. Banks do not just offer financial products and services; they also can provide financial inclusion, improved economic conditions, and better welfare for individuals and whole communities. 

Foto: Dok. Mario Ardi

"Working in the financial sector gave me the opportunity to fulfil the goals I envision for my life in 3 phases. The first is to materialise every parent's dream of embarking their children to live fully and financially independent. The second, to self-actualise to bring change in my professional career and organisation that has provided me with a place to bring out the best of me and finally is to empower the society where I belong by creating an impact on the wider community through a stronger and resilient economy, specifically in the MSME industry,” Jenny reflects. 

Foto: Dok. Mario Ardi

With almost three decades of banking and financial experience under her belt, Jenny has honed her capabilities and brought her to the position as the President Director of PT Berdayakan Usaha Indonesia (“Batumbu”). Batumbu is a platform company operating in an online peers-to-peers lending business that utilises technology to connect Fund Providers with MSME Entrepreneurs with the need for short term financing. With the technology advancement plus solid teamwork, Jenny has set out to develop and unleash the full potential of the MSME sector (Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises) by providing access to cost-effective & fast funding solutions. 

“The MSME entrepreneurs, in general, lack of digital education, literacy, and knowledge in the lending solutions relevant to their financing pain points. This condition affects their ability to manage their business activities effectively, resulting in poor administration and posing obstacles to accessing financing solutions. In this era of digitalisation, essential keys to accelerating growth are collaboration and the development of a sharing economy. Batumbu has developed a business model for community empowerment, using a supply chain approach, connecting upstream to downstream activities. The community includes industry players, related associations, and demographics,” commented this resilient woman with clearly a strong passion for financial services and their benefits. 

Foto: Dok. Mario Ardi

To help create an effective sharing economy, Batumbu operates as a P2P Lending platform that allows individuals and businesses to borrow and lend money to each other. This arrangement basically gives MSME entrepreneurs another alternative to obtain access to financing needs. 

“Batumbu creates financing business opportunities, helps mitigate risks, and monitors business continuity to ensure everything runs as expected by partners, lenders, and borrowers. Imagine how much growth we can support with faster credit applications through digital processes, data analysis, more flexible loan duration, wider distribution channels, and larger funding.” 

Foto: Dok. Mario Ardi

Vision, expertise, professionalism and the right business model have catapulted Batumbu to become the Top 1 Fintech P2P Lending in Indonesia in just three years. It is one of the largest financing distributors to the productive sector, channelling Rp12Trillion, through 140,000 invoices, across 26 provinces. As of the first semester of 2022, Batumbu recorded more than 1.6x in loan distribution y-o-y, disbursing more than Rp4Trillion, with more than 25,000 invoices. 

“We reach out and engage others. We are now collaborating with more than 94 principal partners from our target markets, i.e. consumer goods, food and beverages, pharmaceuticals, and reputable grocery chains.” 

Foto: Dok. Mario Ardi

Based on this strong success and achievement, Batumbu has also been entrusted to partner with multiple banking institutions and other Information Technology-based Lending and Borrowing Services companies. This collaboration is designed for faster and easier loan disbursement. 

Effort does not betray the result. Jenny has most certainly proven this insightful quote to be true. In building her career, she focused on her 2P1C formula for success: Passion, Persistence, and Commitment. She believes passion is the basis of pursuing one’s goals but must be supported by persistence to build grittiness. Having a strong commitment to maintain focus on the key objective must be actualised in day-to-day activities. Jenny trusts that 

“Your attitude, and not your aptitude, will determine your altitude.” It is not one’s intelligence or skill (aptitude) alone that determines success (attitude), but a person’s behaviour (attitude) towards internal factors and external pressures will shape our mindset and mental state. “If we ensure attitude and aptitude mutually support each other, then altitude (success) will follow,” Jenny concludes inspiringly.

Text by Batumbu
Photography by Mario Ardi
Styling by Jihan Fatimah
Wardrobe by Private Collection
Makeup by Tessa Ernalis
Hairdo by Iis Marlina