You know what else e-money will get rid of? Beggars.
By: K. Langit Rinesti
Tags: Charity, Fintech, Emoney, Life Lessons, Morality

‘Twas the night before weekend, when all the awkwardness happened…

(via Flickr.com)

It was a particularly nice Friday night in Jakarta. The sky had cleared up after days of torrential rain and “Go-Pay Day” is in the air.

Signs of our holy Go Pay Day All-Promos Day (via www.jestpic.com/kopisunter/)

For those who are not familiar with the term, “Go-Pay Day” refers to two consecutive days usually nearing the end of the month that we, poor metropolitan millennials have deemed sacred. For on these two particular days, so many shops and merchants are giving 50% cash back for every purchase.

I repeat. Every. Single. Purchase.

I mean, come on, who wouldn’t go for such low-hanging promo? Especially when I could finally buy a grande cup of Rp 65.000 tax-included chilling ice espresso-matcha-fusion-latte drink at the nearest Starbucks only for half the regular price? Fyi, it’s something I wouldn’t usually go for on normal days, considering the same amount of money could easily match twice my daily lunch budget.

The glorious Sbucks’ Iced Espresso-Matcha Fusion (via pergikuliner.com)

As laggard as I appear to be though, I’m still a total sucker for such e-money promo. I’m certainly not the first or, God forbid, the only Indonesian who has relied on digital money for daily transaction.

As Nikkei Asian Review wrote in its August 2018 cover story, e-money transaction in Indonesia has reached 20.67 trillion of rupiah within the first half of 2018 alone, according to Bank Indonesia. This number is mostly contributed by 179,13 million people that belong to the working age category, which makes up almost 69% of the country’s total population in 2018. You get the picture.

From what I’ve personally seen, more and more people are relying on digital payment method for most of their daily transaction, at least in the Greater Jakarta area. Go-Pay, OVO, T-Cash, Dana, and many other brands of e-money have collectively become one of the biggest reasons why I’m so often out of cash these days. The other one, of course, has been my Y.O.L.O-based personal finance management system, thank you very much.

But really, I just can’t help it. Using digital money does come with many perks, even putting the All-Promos Day aside. For instance, I do not have to go to the ATM every so often, even though the closest one from my workplace is only 5 minutes-walk away. Then there is the feeling of conciseness, where I do not have to bring my bulky purse around anymore. For let’s be honest to ourselves, cash does take space. Plus, it also add a considerable weight to our purse, clothes, jacket, etc., especially the coin ones.

So just like any other time of year, it had not bothered me much that on that fateful Friday night, I got almost zero cash in my purse — or any visible pocket, in that matter. There might be some folded bills or spare changes forgotten somewhere, but why should I bother if at the moment still I had enough e-money credit, battery, and internet signal on my mobile phone?

Thinking back, I should have actually been bothered. After stopping by at a fancy bubble tea shop to complete my All-Promos Day purchase ritual, I continued my short walk from the office to the station from where I’d be commuting home.

In the middle of the way, a beggar suddenly came up to me begging for some money. I ended up giving him nothing. It was not my first time being uncharitable towards Jakartan beggars. However, it was the first time that I did it without feeling any guilt or remorse whatsoever.

What could I say? I did not have any cash on me at the moment.

A moment of revelation

Of all good and bad things digital fintech or financial technology had made possible, I did not even once think that ‘solving moral problems’ was ever included on the list. And yet, there it was.

The absence of cash had freed me of the moral dilemma of giving/not giving money to the beggar.

Raised a Christian in a small peaceful town, I used to have enough role models to show me the virtue of generosity. Jesus did it, my parents upheld it, my community encouraged it. Charity means helping people and it does feel good to do good. Plus, it guarantees you a portion of treasure in heaven.

(via memegenerator.net)

Then I went to study and live in the metropolis Jakarta. That was when all hell did break loose.

Around Greater Jakarta area, it’s only natural to see a beggar occupying the same spot every single day. The thing is, these beggars are often not even those with physical or mental disability. Many do look fit enough to do regular work instead of just sitting idly with their palms open, waiting for the passer-byes to take pity on them. The scene usually pisses me off the most when I just happen to come back late from the office, tired and drained after working my ass off doing overtimes, only to barely survive another month in the harsh capitol city.

Yeah, this thought is absolutely laden with meritocratic sentiment, I know. Alas, I cannot help it, and it does not even have anything to do with how much money I want to keep and am willing to give away. Have I mentioned several news revealing that some beggars are actually not poor at all, or that they belong to certain kind of syndicate or gang that uses children to do their bidding?

Beggar in Indonesia (via Pixabay.com)

Long story short, giving money in the name of charity does not seem like the right thing to do anymore. First, there is no way that I know whether my money will be necessarily used for something good or bad. Second, there is always the chance that my act of goodwill will eventually make the beggars lazy, thus continuously relying on begging as the only source of livelihood. Third, it just does not feel right to do some charity begrudgingly.

Oh, yeah. The sucky yucky cognitive dissonance strikes again. Hard.

To give or not to give money, that’s the question, and the answer apparently comes from the very unlikely source.

What to expect next

In a world so f*cked up with ever-widening socio-economic gap and ever-rising inequality, I still believe that charity should be included on our ‘must-do’ list. However, the advance of digital finance technology might initiate fundamental change in the way we look at charity. And hopefully, for the better.

When we are no longer able to give physical money to other people in need, it does not necessarily mean that we should stop giving altogether. Instead, now we might be able to dump the ‘reasoning of practicality’ and start to really think of the tangible things those people really need and we are able to provide. And I do not mean that we should start providing these people with mobile phone and e-money apps either.

If those people need food, let’s get them food. If they need education, let’s teach them, buy them books, or pay for their school/training tuition fee. If they need shelter, let’s at least donate our money to organization/institution that can provide exactly that. The best part is, all these things are possible to be done using digital payment system.

This way, we can make sure that our money goes for the right cause. Plus, these people get exactly what they need, albeit not necessarily what they want. I mean, who can guarantee that they would use the charity money to buy some food or baby formula instead of a pack of cigarette?

Bonus point, what good does it do if our charity only comes out of moral or religious obligation but not of the sincerity of our heart?