Tokyo Century Corp. has raised its stake in Indonesian conglomerate Lippo Group's electronic money and point services company, PT Bumi Cakrawala Perkasa, resulting in an aggregate investment of around US$116 million.

Bumi Cakrawala Perkasa's smartphone-based e-cash business, OVO, allows users to shop with electronic cash and accumulate points. Tokyo Century will offer its know-how in order to determine OVO users' creditworthiness through an analysis of their e-cash usage and shopping habits, The Nikkei reported Dec. 26.

The two parties will also set up a consumer loan joint venture by March 2018, the report said.

Tokyo Century and Lippo first struck a partnership to cooperate in the digital and fintech businesses in late 2016. Tokyo Century also holds a 20% stake in PT Big Ecommerce Bersama, a Lippo e-commerce unit, according to a same-day statement.

About 40% of Indonesians have a bank account and less than 10% hold a credit card, despite its large population of 260 million, which makes it a prime market for the use of e-money through mobile phones, Tokyo Century said.