Empowering Women, This BRI Ultra Micro Partner Increases Access to Finance on the Slopes of Mount Muria

Suara.com – Rika Sasmi Atun, never thought that her decision to become a UMi Partner (ultra micro customer) would make her become a figure trusted by the community and a place to ask questions. This was achieved by Rika after becoming a UMi Partner from PT Bank Rakyat Indonesia (Persero), Tbk. or BRI for the Mount Wungkal Pati area on the slopes of Mount Muria since February 2022.

Rika became a partner in the ultra micro financing program (UMi) or known as a UMi Partner after she first played an active role as a BRILink Agent. Since 2017, Rika has been a BRILink Agent in her village located in Pati Regency, Central Java.

As a BRILink Agent, Rika serves payment and financial transactions for the public in real time online using the BRI EDC miniATM feature with the sharing fee concept. After becoming a UMi Partner, the types of financial services provided by Rika could also develop.

Through Rika, who is a UMi Partner, the micro business community can apply for loans to BRI. Starting from IDR 2 million to IDR 100 million. They are generally farmers on the slopes of Mount Muria, ranging from coffee farmers, corn farmers, rice farmers, as well as vegetable farmers. In addition, there are a small portion of itinerant traders.

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The UMi Partner Program also makes it easier for farmers who have not been able to access bank credit facilities to obtain loan funds for business capital. Prospective debtors only need to submit, sign, then Rika will conduct an on-site assessment and then ask BRI for disbursement.

He said, generally the entire process from submission to disbursement of loan funds only takes 3 days.

“Monday came to the house, applied for a loan, already brought the requirements such as KTP and KK. Tuesday I surveyed the borrower’s house. Tuesday night data entry. Wednesday can be processed by orderlies [BRI], and thawing. For those who already have an ATM, my disbursement is here [di lokasi]. For those who haven’t, they still need to go to the BRI office,” he said.

So the farmers can also get cheap loans to equip them to cultivate their agricultural land in the next planting season. No need to go all the way to the BRI office which is about 10 Km away.

“I educate the public that at UMi, a BRI Simpedes Savings account is opened, it’s free, you don’t have to pay, and it’s easy to pay off. Instead of going through moneylenders, the interest rates are already high, they don’t have a passbook at the bank. Then if the payment is good, in the future the loan ceiling can also be increased,” said Rika.

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In addition, with a flexible loan system, they can make loans to BRI through Rika with a maturity that is adjusted to their ability to pay.

“There are installments per week, there are monthly installments. I release. Because they are generally farmers, the maturity period usually follows the planting season, around 4-6 months. Most people borrow around Rp. 10 million,” said Rika, who served the UMi Si KECE loan.

As is well known, UMi financing is an advanced stage of the social assistance program through business independence which targets ultra-micro entrepreneurs. The ultra-micro business segment is of particular concern because of its character which cannot yet be given credit facilities from banks.

Carrying out the role as a UMi Partner for housewives is not without obstacles. However, Rika considers the difficulties she encounters as a challenge for her to continue learning and upgrading her skills. One of them, he continued, is the challenge of time management between taking care of a family and serving customers, which can reach 50-70 people.

“But then I learned, how to make a payment system so that it can run more efficiently,” he explained.

After running for more than a year as a BRI UMi Partner, Rika has started to feel the benefits of helping the surrounding community in accessing banking facilities. The surrounding community, who are generally farmers of various commodities, are now slowly leaving the bondage of moneylenders who charge high interest rates, and are turning to the banking system.

“Alhamdulillah, I am very happy to be able to educate, help the wider community from being trapped by loan sharks, help the economy in the village to develop. And, now it really feels like there is more trust from the public in Rika’s figure, as well as a place to ask questions, especially about finances. There is more trust,” he concluded.

Rika’s role illustrates the involvement of the role of women as UMi Partners who are able to encourage lending in the ultra micro segment. It doesn’t stop there, the BRI Group also continues to empower women in terms of providing access to finance. This was conveyed by BRI Director of Micro Business Supari who revealed that with the ultra micro holding synergy, the BRI Group was able to distribute IDR 35.8 trillion in loans to 13.9 million female debtors.

“This is a form of BRI’s manifestation of empowering underprivileged women and strengthening BRI’s commitment to support the achievement of SDGs, especially those related to gender equality,” he said.