Interviewer view · keep this screen to yourself
Standard: Nusa super-app: should it launch buy-now-pay-later?
You run the case. Read the prompt, answer questions from the notes below, and share data only when the candidate asks for it or gets stuck. Score at the end.
Case timer
00:00
1. Read the prompt aloud
Read it slowly, then pause. Let the candidate ask questions before they structure.
Nusa, a ride-hailing and payments app in Indonesia that reports in US dollars, is considering "buy now, pay later": shoppers pay in four monthly parts with no interest, and merchants pay a fee. Should Nusa launch it?
Format note: Difficulty: Standard. Format: candidate-led, with interviewer dialogue. Industry: Technology and financial services. Region: Indonesia. Interview length: about 40 minutes. The company is fictional and all figures are illustrative.
2. Answers to clarifying questions
Give these answers only if the candidate asks. If they ask something not listed, give a sensible answer or say it does not matter here.
If asked: How many users and how much would they spend?
Answer: About 2 million users, each making 4 purchases a year of about USD 60.
If asked: How does the product earn money?
Answer: Merchants pay a 4 percent fee on each purchase. Funding costs are 1.5 percent of purchase value, credit losses 2.5 percent, and operations 0.5 percent.
If asked: Are there rules to consider?
Answer: Yes. Indonesia's financial regulator (OJK) has buy-now-pay-later rules from 2026, including a minimum age of 18, a minimum income of about IDR 3 million a month, and a cap on repayments relative to income. Assume about 2 million users qualify and a licensed partner does the lending.
3. The hypothesis a strong candidate states
Listen for an early, testable guess like this one. It does not need to match word for word.
Buy-now-pay-later margins are thin. My hypothesis is that it loses money at typical loss rates, and only works if the app's own data can cut credit losses.
4. A model structure
Compare the candidate's structure with this one. A different split can be just as good if it is clean and fits the problem.
- Profit = purchase value x (merchant fee - funding - losses - operations)
- Purchase value (users x purchases x size)
- Merchant fee income
- Key: Costs: funding, credit losses, operations
- Wider benefit to the app
5. The working, step by step
Each step shows how a strong candidate works it out. Share a new fact from it only when the candidate asks or is stuck, and let them do the math: the result in the dark box is what they should reach.
Step 1: Purchase value
What a strong candidate does: Candidate: "2 million users x 4 purchases x USD 60."
Purchase value (USD a year): 2,000,000 × 60 × 4 = 480,000,000
Step 2: Fee income
What a strong candidate does: The 4 percent merchant fee.
Fee income (USD a year): 480,000,000 × 0.04 = 19,200,000
Step 3: Costs
What a strong candidate does: Funding 1.5 percent, losses 2.5 percent, operations 0.5 percent.
Costs (USD a year): 480,000,000 × (0.015 + 0.025 + 0.005) = 21,600,000
Step 4: Profit
What a strong candidate does: Candidate: "So it loses money."
Profit (USD a year): 480,000,000 × (0.04 - 0.015 - 0.025 - 0.005) = -2,400,000
Step 5: Break-even loss rate
What a strong candidate does: Candidate: "Losses must stay below the fee minus funding and operations."
Break-even loss rate (%): (0.04 - 0.015 - 0.005) × 100 = 2
Step 6: Curveball: using the app's data
What a strong candidate does: Interviewer: "Our ride and payment history could cut losses to 1.5 percent." Candidate: "Then profit becomes:"
Profit at 1.5 percent losses (USD a year): 480,000,000 × (0.04 - 0.015 - 0.015 - 0.005) = 2,400,000
Step 7: Wider benefit
What a strong candidate does: Interviewer: "Users of the product also use our other services more, adding about USD 3 of contribution per user a year."
Extra contribution (USD a year): 2,000,000 × 3 = 6,000,000
Step 8: Break-even with the wider benefit
What a strong candidate does: Candidate: "Counting that benefit, losses could reach:"
Break-even loss rate with cross-selling (%): (480,000,000 × (0.04 - 0.015 - 0.005) + 2,000,000 × 3) ÷ 480,000,000 × 100 = 3.25
The recommendation to listen for
At the end, say: "The CEO walks in. What is your recommendation?"
I recommend that Nusa launch, but only with underwriting based on its own data and a strict loss limit. First, at typical 2.5 percent losses the product loses about USD 2.4 million a year, and it breaks even only at 2 percent. Second, if Nusa's ride and payment history cuts losses to 1.5 percent, it earns about USD 2.4 million, plus about USD 6 million from users spending more across the app. Third, the main risk is the loss rate, so set the stop-loss at the standalone 2 percent, not the 3.25 percent that counts wider benefits. Start with users who have 12 months of history.
Risks a strong answer names: Loss rates may rise in a downturn; OJK eligibility rules may leave fewer qualifying users than assumed, and rules may tighten further; Merchants may resist a 4 percent fee.
Next steps: Test a loss model on past user data; Launch with 50,000 users and small limits.
Strong versus weak
A strong answer
Built profit as a margin on purchase value, found the 2 percent break-even loss rate, and made the launch depend on it.
A weak answer
Focused on how popular the product is with young shoppers and never checked the loss rate.
Score the candidate
Score each criterion from 1 to 5. A 2 or a 4 sits between the descriptions.
This case has no exhibit. Score Exhibit reading on how the candidate used the data you gave them: did they pick out the number that matters and say what it means?
Total
0 out of 25
Score all five criteria to see the band and the feedback template.