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Escaping the “devil's trap”: Exploring the role of online social support for fintech lending's over‐indebted Indonesian customers

2022; Wiley; Volume: 72; Issue: 245 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1111/issj.12348

1468-2451

Mohamad Fiky Herdiansyah, Karel Karsten Himawan,

Sharing Economy and Platforms

Abstract Fintech lending practices have been overgrowing in recent years, but they have also caused a persistent problem of customer over‐indebtedness, including in Indonesia. Debt‐ridden fintech lending customers experience stress constantly thinking about their debt burden and intimidating collection pressures. Social support is known to play an essential role in assisting individuals in coping with pressures. However, studies around this issue are still minimal. This study explores online social support dynamics through a WhatsApp group created for heavily in debt Indonesian fintech loan customers. Twelve customers and one online group staff participated and were interviewed. The study results were organised under three themes of dynamics: emotional support, information support, and interaction support in an online context, where generally, social support facilitated through the WhatsApp group tended to have a positive effect on the customers. Respondents admitted feeling more empowered to solve their debt problems than before joining the group. This study makes an important contribution, particularly in demonstrating the role of online‐based social support in the context of stress due to over‐indebtedness from an Asian perspective, which opportunities for use are increasing.