FigureAsia 35 Under 35 · Business
Rafi Putra Arriyan
Age 31 · Payments and international remittance · Indonesia
A payments founder who transformed a manual fee-saving workaround into a licensed consumer platform with domestic and international transfer products.
- Approximate age at the edition boundary
- 31
- Field
- Business
- Country or region
- Indonesia
- FigureAsia U35 Assessment
- 85.5 / 100
Profile
Career and operating record
Rafi Putra Arriyan co-founded Flip after noticing that Indonesia's fixed interbank fee could exceed the value users placed on a small transfer. He and two university colleagues first tested a manual workaround, processing requests through a form and their own bank accounts, then built an automated service. When Bank Indonesia halted the unlicensed operation, the founders worked through the requirements and obtained a formal remittance licence in October 2016. That sequence establishes product and regulatory execution rather than a claim based on later funding.
Flip appointed a group chief executive in July 2024 and assigned Arriyan to lead the consumer-app entity as president director; describing him as current group chief executive would therefore be inaccurate. At that point the company reported more than 15 million individual users, over 1,000 business customers and billions of dollars processed. Its completed product suite had expanded from domestic transfers into business payments, bill payment, financing and international remittance. Those measures belong to Flip and its three co-founders and operating team, while Arriyan's current agency is specifically tied to the consumer business.
FigureAsia selection
Why Rafi Putra Arriyan is on the list
He helped define the fee problem, build the early workflow and navigate the regulatory interruption. Flip's later integration across more than 100 banks and expansion into international transfers demonstrate that the original solution became durable financial infrastructure.
The selection does not treat venture funding or group valuation as an achievement. Nor does it assign all current company results to Arriyan after the group leadership structure changed. Credit is limited to his documented co-founding and product role, the completed licensing path and his present responsibility for a consumer platform used at national scale.
Verified work
The 2025–26 business record
Consumer leadership formalised at national scale
Flip named Arriyan president director of the entity behind its consumer application while appointing a separate group chief executive. The company reported more than 15 million individuals, 1,000 businesses and billions of dollars processed.
Fee-free transfer service built and licensed
Arriyan and his co-founders moved Flip from a manually operated transfer workaround to an automated service, then completed Bank Indonesia's licensing process on 4 October 2016.
Transfer platform extended across borders
Flip expanded from domestic bank transfers into business financial management and international remittance. Its investor record describes a licensed service spanning more than 100 Indonesian banks and transfers to more than 55 countries.
Market context
The work in its market
Interbank-transfer fees are individually small but accumulate across households and small businesses. A consumer interface that routes transfers efficiently can reduce that burden, but it becomes consequential only when it operates with licences, reliable settlement and controls across banking partners.
Flip's path also illustrates a recurring Southeast Asian fintech pattern: a domestic pain point can become a broader payments platform and then an international-remittance product. The editorial test is completed system delivery and accountable operating responsibility, not capital raised to pursue the opportunity.
FigureAsia U35 Assessment
Assessment breakdown
85.5out of 100
Operating execution
25.6 / 30
Flip named Arriyan president director of the entity behind its consumer application while appointing a separate group chief executive. The company reported more than 15 million individuals, 1,000 businesses and billions of dollars processed. The result is completed and operational rather than announced.
Commercial consequence
21.4 / 25
The record produced measurable consequence in payments and international remittance, with company-wide outcomes kept distinct from personal credit.
Individual agency
17.1 / 20
As Co-founder and President Director of the consumer business, Rafi Putra Arriyan held an identifiable decision-making and execution remit.
Industry influence
12.8 / 15
A payments founder who transformed a manual fee-saving workaround into a licensed consumer platform with domestic and international transfer products. The work established a reference point beyond one financing or publicity cycle.
Asian and global relevance
8.6 / 10
Born in Padang, educated at Universitas Indonesia and based in Jakarta, Arriyan built a licensed payments service around a cost faced by Indonesian bank customers. The work also carries consequence beyond one immediate market.