Bureaunia Chronicles: Episode 7
I’m Paulix. I run the corner shop where Bureaunia’s “digital future” meets real life: rice by the scoop, soap by the bar, medicine in small strips. People don’t make one big monthly purchase. They make many small ones fast, urgent, right at my counter.
Last week, Mariamix walked in smiling. “My allowance arrived,” she said, showing me the SMS confirmation on her feature phone. I wanted to say yes. Digital payments would mean fewer fake notes, fewer robberies, fewer awkward “come back tomorrow” tabs.
But then I pictured what happens when a payment doesn’t behave like cash. So I said it quietly, almost apologetically: “Cash only.”
Not because I hate change. Because the system hadn’t solved my three merchant problems:
Instant verification of payment to me– If payment isn’t confirmed instantly, I can’t hand over goods. “Pending” is not a currency.
Incentive for ‘going digital’ – If I lose even a small fee, or if it takes time to receive the money and I still need cash to restock tonight.
Seamess digital payment to my suppliers from the digital money I receive from my customers – If I have to cash out to pay my suppliers because I can’t pay across digital money providers, digital is a no-go for me.
From Waiting to Now: What Others Got Right
Commerce Minister Tradexa reviews two countries that solved the bottlenecks:
Brazil’s Pix: According to the Brazilian Banking Federation, there were nearly 69 billion Pix transactions in 2024 alone, reaching roughly USD 5 trillion in value. Pix fixed the trust problem. Pix payments settle in seconds, operate 24/7, and confirm instantly at the point of sale. In-person transactions are final the moment they go through. For merchants, that removes counter risk entirely: no waiting, no reversals, no uncertainty.
BI-FAST powers instant 24/7 transfers across 100+ Indonesian banks with USD 15,625 limits. BI-FAST processed about 2.5 billion transactions in 2024, totaling approximately USD 390 billion. MSMEs (64 million Indonesian small businesses) get instant supplier payments, even weekends and scan-to-pay interoperability for street vendors, slashing costs and boosting cashflow scale.
From “Cash Only” to “Phone Pay”
Tradexa plans to package BurePay as merchant-ready: strict no-pending rules, fast clearing by receiving money within seconds, one QR code or Merchant ID that works with every wallet, sustainable fees with temporary subsidies for smallest vendors, and onboarding support treating merchants as partners.
Next month, Mariamix walks in with her feature phone. She pays from BurePay. The confirmation flashes instantly. Paulix doesn’t hesitate. He hands over the rice and lentils. For the first time, his sign feels honest and confident: “Phone Pay.”
Then at night he needs to restock. His wholesaler doesn’t use BurePay; he’s on TradeMoney. Paulix transfers the day’s sales to pay him. The money moves instantly from BurePay to TradeMoney. The sale was instant at the counter, and the supply chain finally works end to end.
But as the payment completes, Paulix notices something new. A 2% commission has been deducted from his balance. Not a delay. Not a failure. A cost.
The system now works exactly as designed: instant, interoperable, reliable.
But Paulix is left with a new question, one no technology can answer on its own:
When digital payments become infrastructure, should small merchants pay to access it, or should the system be designed so they don’t have to?
Next month, Mariamix walks in with her feature phone. She pays from BurePay. The confirmation flashes instantly. Paulix doesn’t hesitate. He hands over the rice and lentils. For the first time, his sign feels honest and confident: “Pay here.” And when Mariamix makes her payment she notices an extra charge has been deducted from her wallet as commission fee for the service. Noticing it she wondered why she had been charged extra which she wasn’t aware of.
Then at night Paulix needs to restock. His wholesaler doesn’t use BurePay, he’s on TradeMoney. He tries to transfer today’s sales to pay him, but the money can’t move cleanly from BurePay to TradeMoney. The payment shows “in process,” or “settles tomorrow,” or it asks to cash out first. The sale was instant at the counter, yet useless for keeping the shop shelves full.
Tradexa knows the deeper problem. If BurePay can’t talk to every other wallet, merchants will still demand cash. She calls Governor Regulix: “Fix BureSwitch. The bridge doesn’t exist.”
And If the system finally works end to end, who pays the price of making it work; Mariamix, Paulix, or the government? Next episode starts with the extra commission deducted from the balance that nobody talks about.
Anir Chowdhury
#DigitalEquity #DigitalTransformation #DigitalInclusion #BureauniaChronicles #DXA #9iDXCanvas #FinancialInclusion #DigitalPayments #DigitalForAll #InclusiveFinance #MoneyThatWorks
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