There is no reliable shortcut out of debt, and offers that promise one are often a warning sign. What does exist is a set of research-backed approaches and official help channels that many borrowers do not use.

Why debt is harder to carry in 2026

Bank Indonesia (BI) raised the BI-Rate from 4.75% to 5.75% in May and June 2026, a 100-basis-point increase (BI data), and held it there on 22–23 September. Banks pass this on to loan pricing gradually; for home loans, see our explainer on BI's hikes and mortgages.

Meanwhile, digital credit keeps outgrowing ordinary bank lending. The Financial Services Authority (OJK) reported on 5 October 2026 that, as of August 2026:

  • Outstanding online loans (pinjaman daring, or pindar) reached Rp106.94 trillion, up 22.07% year on year.
  • The TWP90 ratio, the share of pindar loans more than 90 days overdue, rose to 4.73%. It was 4.32% in July, according to OJK's previous release.
  • Bank buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) balances stood at Rp31.41 trillion, up 29.10% year on year, across 34 million accounts. BNPL from finance companies grew 36.57% to Rp13.61 trillion.

Bank consumer lending, by contrast, grew only 5.07% in August, BI said.

Credit cards remain among the most expensive forms of mainstream credit. BI lowered its ceiling on card interest to 1.75% a month from July 2021, detikFinance reported; NDNews found no later change to the ceiling. That is about 21% a year before compounding. Temporary BI relief keeps the minimum card payment at 5% of the bill, with late fees capped at 1% of the outstanding bill or Rp100,000, whichever is lower, until 31 December 2026, Bisnis.com reported. Paying only the minimum leaves most of the balance accruing interest.

Step 1: List every debt and build a budget

Write down every debt: lender, balance, interest rate or fee, minimum payment and due date. Small pindar and paylater accounts are easy to forget.

To see what lenders report about you, request your SLIK OJK credit report (the iDeb, formerly "BI Checking") free at idebku.ojk.go.id. The report is emailed within one working day, and daily registration slots are limited, detikFinance reported in 2025. Check it for loans you do not recognise.

Then subtract essential costs (housing, food, transport, utilities, school fees) from take-home pay. What remains is your repayment budget. If it is less than the sum of your minimum payments, no repayment method will be enough on its own; go straight to Step 3.

Step 2: Choose a repayment method

Both main methods pay the minimum on every debt and put every extra rupiah into one target; once it is cleared, that payment rolls to the next.

Method Which debt you target first Main advantage Main drawback
Avalanche Highest interest rate Lowest total interest paid Early wins can take longer
Snowball Smallest balance Quick, visible progress Can cost more in interest

On paper, the avalanche method always saves the most money. The research suggests, however, that motivation matters:

  • An analysis of about 6,000 clients of a US debt-settlement firm by David Gal and Blakeley McShane, published in the Journal of Marketing Research in 2012, found that "the number of accounts closed … better predicted successfully completing the program than the dollar amount … an individual had paid off", Kellogg Insight reported.
  • A 2016 study in the Journal of Consumer Research by researchers at the University of Alberta found that people who concentrated repayments on one account paid down debt faster than those who spread payments evenly, the university reported.
  • A 2011 Journal of Marketing Research study by Moty Amar, Dan Ariely and colleagues found "debt account aversion": in experiments, people cleared small loans first even when larger ones carried higher interest, raising their costs. Drawing attention to accumulated interest helped (study summary).

The takeaway: concentrating payments matters more than the method. If your most expensive debt is also small, such as a high-fee pindar loan, clearing it first gives you both benefits. If you need early wins to stay on track, the snowball is reasonable, as long as you know what it costs.

Step 3: When consolidation or restructuring helps

Restructuring. If you cannot keep up, contact your lender before you fall behind. Restructuring is an agreed change to loan terms, not a write-off; under OJK's definition it can include a lower rate, a longer tenor or reduced arrears (Fortune Indonesia). OJK sometimes mandates special treatment, as it did on 2 October 2026 for borrowers hit by the East Nusa Tenggara earthquake.

Consolidation. This means taking one new loan, at a lower rate, to pay off several expensive debts. It can help, but the US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau warns that a lower monthly payment may simply reflect a longer term, so "you will pay a lot more overall". It also warns that consolidation "probably won't help" if spending still exceeds income. Never take out a new pindar loan to repay an old one.

Avoid paid "debt-settlement" services. In May 2026, OJK said it had shut down an entity that offered to settle people's pinjol debts for a fee while falsely claiming to be registered with OJK. Its method involved steering people into new loans on other platforms, Kontan reported.

Official help channels

  • OJK complaints: file through the Consumer Protection Portal (APPK), call 157 or email [email protected]. Between 1 January and 14 September 2026, OJK received 82,092 complaints, of which 36,435 concerned fintech firms (OJK).
  • Satgas PASTI (illegal lenders): report via sipasti.ojk.go.id, OJK's contact line 157, WhatsApp 081157157157 or [email protected] (Satgas PASTI, April 2026). From January to August 2026, the task force shut down 951 illegal online-lending entities (OJK).
  • AFPI, the P2P lenders' association: runs a complaints portal for reports of illegal platforms, which it passes on to Satgas PASTI (Selular). AFPI said in October 2025 that certified collectors would carry a digital ID with a QR code that borrowers can scan to check their status (Bisnis.com).
  • Elsewhere in ASEAN: Malaysia's AKPK, a Bank Negara Malaysia subsidiary, offers free counselling and a debt management programme (The Edge). Credit Counselling Singapore offers similar services (CCS).

Illegal pinjol and your rights on debt collection

Warning signs of an illegal lender: the app is not on OJK's list of licensed lenders (94 as of August 2026, Investortrust reported), or it asks for access to your contacts or photo gallery. OJK has said since 2021 that licensed lenders may access only the phone's camera, microphone and location. "If anyone asks for a personal contact list, it is certainly an illegal pinjol," an OJK spokesperson said in 2021, Kontan reported (NDNews translation).

Collection rules: under OJK Regulation (POJK) 22/2023, financial firms, including licensed lenders, may collect only from Monday to Saturday, between 08:00 and 20:00. They may contact only the borrower, not emergency contacts or employers, and they may not use threats, violence or humiliation, OJK said in May 2026 (Bisnis.com). Keep screenshots and call logs as evidence.

Key numbers

  • 5.75%: BI-Rate, up 100 bps in 2026
  • Rp106.94 trillion: pindar loans outstanding (August 2026)
  • 4.73%: pindar loans more than 90 days overdue (August 2026)
  • 34 million: bank BNPL accounts (August 2026)
  • 1.75% a month: BI's credit-card interest ceiling, as set in July 2021 (latest change found)
  • 951: illegal lending entities shut down (January–August 2026)

What to watch

  • BI's next scheduled policy meeting on 20–21 October 2026 (Bisnis.com). Track regional moves on our central bank rates tracker.
  • The pindar TWP90 ratio in OJK's monthly releases. A further rise would point to more borrowers falling behind.
  • The end of BI's credit-card relief on 31 December 2026, unless it is extended again.

This is general information, not financial advice.

This article was researched with AI assistance and reviewed by the NDNews editorial team. It is based on official data and media reports as of 7 October 2026. It is not financial advice.