A Student Creativity Program (PKM) at Universitas Dian Nuswantoro (Udinus) is committed to raising awareness among youths toward the danger of online loans. The program is carried out by the PKM team of the Economics and Business Faculty by holding a social media campaign and spreading information about the importance of financial literacy.
The campaign is an output of research entitled ‘The Influence Of Generation Z’s Decision Toward Online Loans with Convenience Usage as a Moderation Variable on College Students of Central Java.’ The research is also funded at Rp. 8 million by the government, specifically the Ministry of Education, Culture, Technology, and Research, as the initiator of PKM.
The PKM team captain, Ifnu Setya Alfaturachman, stated that the topic was based on the data provided by the Financial Service Authority. The data shows that proposed online loans were valued at a total of Rp. 47 trillion by June of 2024. Most of these loans come from the young generation aged from 19 to 34, with Rp. 26.87 trillion of loans proposed by young people of Generation Z.
“According to this data, Gen Z is among the most prominent groups having the most default credits, as roughly Rp. 763.65 billion of debt credits noted as default. It is important to highlight that 60% of Gen Z only use online loans to fulfill their lifestyle, not to make ends meet,” Ifnu uttered.
In response to this online loan problem, the PKM team was funded to identify problems and gaps. The social media campaign is done through Instagram:@pkmrsh_genzawarepinjol, TikTok:@pkmrsh_genzawarepinjol, and YouTube:Gen Z Aware Pinjol’.
“We have also made a website themed ‘Gen Z Awareness of Online Loans.’ From there, students will get the newest information relating to the dangers of online loans and the problems emerging from them. In addition, we will also present data and research of the statistic provided by P2P, LPBBTI, and Fintech,” he highlighted.
The Importance of Financial Literacy
The campaign is expected to raise awareness regarding the importance of financial literacy. This is done so the young generation can use online loans more wisely, as well as understand the potential risks of online loans. There were also other students involved in this project, including Dandy Aprilya, Sasha Filiya Salim, Aulia Nurul Hidayah, and Arifah Miladiyah.
Fahmi Zakaria, S.E., M.Ak., the team advisor, explained that this research also aimed to prevent more financial, mental, and social environmental losses experienced by loaners. In addition to the social media campaign, this project also produced other outputs, including scientific papers and a patent for the research model as an intellectual property.
“Through this campaign, we hope to inflict a positive contribution to the financial literacy of youths, particularly Gen Z. Therefore, we can help them make better financial decisions, as well as prevent any loss caused by online loans,” he concluded. (Humas Udinus/Haris. Foto: Dok. Pribadi)
