Pawnshop vies for hard-pressed students<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The state-owned pawnshop company Perum Pegadaian
\nplans to open stores right on the doorstep of its biggest clients
\n-- inside university campuses, Antara reported.<\/p>\n
In big cities like Bandung, \"university students are our
\nbiggest clients\", Ketut Sethyon, head of the company's research
\nand development unit, said during a seminar in Bandung, West
\nJava, on Saturday.<\/p>\n
\"They account for 38 percent of our clients,\" Ketut said at
\nthe seminar to discuss pawnshops as an alternative funding
\nresource for students organized by state-run Padjadjaran
\nUniversity. \"Then come workers, entrepreneurs, housewives and
\ncivil servants,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He explained that the pawnshop company has been slow in
\nsetting up shops on campuses, while banks, post offices and
\ntelecommunication companies have all opened up branches there.<\/p>\n
Ketut said the pawnshop company has a major image problem
\nbecause it is still widely seen as a \"poor man's\" institution,
\nnot a respectable association that offers short term loans with
\nlow interest.<\/p>\n
Many people, even students, are reluctant to admit their
\nprofession when filling in the forms to borrow money from pawn
\nshops, he said.<\/p>\n
He said the image was formed during the Dutch colonial rule,
\nbecause pawnshops were then indeed for second class citizens
\nbecause banks were strictly for the elite.<\/p>\n
Haryo Martodirdjo, a Padjadjaran staff lecturer, stressed
\nthat most Indonesian university students are not mature enough to
\nmanage their finances.<\/p>\n
Most still resort to borrowing from friends rather than
\nturning to formal institutions like pawnshops, Haryo said. (emb)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/pawnshop-vies-for-hard-pressed-students-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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