When “Pak Budi” Means Three Different People
If you’ve ever been in a meeting in Indonesia and someone calls out “Pak Budi,” there’s a good chance more than one person will respond. In a small room, that’s a light moment—everyone laughs, maybe someone jokes about who the “real” Budi is. But in the world of fintech, this is no laughing matter. A system can’t tell which Budi applied for a loan, which Budi just opened a savings account, and which Budi is the unlucky one getting a phone call about an account he never opened.
The truth is, common names are a cultural reality. Indonesia has millions of Andis, Sitis, Agus-es, and Budis. But when fintech platforms scale to millions of users, this reality creates headaches that no human call center can handle.
The Hidden Risk Behind Common Names
For fintech businesses, a name is often the first entry point into identity verification. But when thousands of customers share the same name, things get complicated. Manual checks don’t scale, and traditional databases often rely on exact matches—meaning one “Andi” could easily get confused with another.
The consequences go far beyond inconvenience. Duplicate accounts can slip through, compliance reports may be inaccurate, and fraudsters can exploit the confusion. After all, if even your system can’t tell one Budi from another, how do you prove the legitimacy of a transaction?
It’s like showing up at a school reunion where four classmates are all named Agus. In person, you might call them “Agus Gondrong” or “Agus Botak” to keep things clear. But your fintech system doesn’t have that luxury—it sees nothing but “Agus.”
Customer Service Confusion—And Cost
Now imagine this scenario: your call center reaches out to verify a customer.
“Hello, is this Mr. Andi?”
“Yes. But which Andi are you looking for?”
It might be funny as a one-off joke, but multiply this across thousands of calls, and suddenly it’s not funny anymore. It becomes a costly problem—agents waste time clarifying identities, customers lose trust, and regulators may question the accuracy of your records.
For a business handling millions of customers, every minute of inefficiency compounds into lost productivity, compliance risks, and potential revenue leakage.
The Smarter Way to Handle Names at Scale
This is where technology needs to step in. Instead of treating names as isolated data points, a smarter system can recognize context, group similarities, and identify unique markers beyond just “first name, last name.”
That’s exactly what GetName is built to do. Rather than confusing “Agus Santoso” in Surabaya with “Agus Santoso” in Jakarta, GetName intelligently verifies and clusters identities. It understands that names may look the same but belong to entirely different people—helping fintech platforms reduce errors, save costs, and prevent fraud.
Think of it as giving your database the ability to distinguish between “Agus the loyal customer” and “Agus the fraudster,” without relying on haircuts, batik patterns, or phone call clarifications.
Why It Matters for Fintech Growth
Fintech is all about scale. What works for 1,000 users must also work for 1 million users—or even 10 million. Without the right verification system, the risk of mix-ups grows exponentially. And in financial services, one mistake can snowball into regulatory fines, customer churn, and reputational damage.
By adopting tools like GetName, fintech companies can build trust and efficiency from the ground up. Customers feel secure, regulators see compliance, and businesses save resources. Instead of wasting time on “which Budi is which,” companies can focus on delivering better services and scaling sustainably.
Common Names: Still Funny, But Only in Real Life
At the end of the day, meeting three Budis in one room will always be a funny moment you can laugh about. But when your fintech system meets three thousand Budis in your customer database, it’s no longer a joke—it’s a potential risk.
With GetName, businesses don’t have to play guessing games. They can embrace growth confidently, knowing that every Budi, Andi, and Siti is verified and uniquely identified.
Because in fintech, humor is best left for the meeting room—not the compliance report.
Last modified: August 27, 2025
