BCA Plans to Develop "Digital Bank"

In an interview with GlobeAsia, Jahja Setiaatmadja, President Director of Bank Central Asia (BCA), said the plan to make an acquisition over two small banks or creditors, one of which was prepared to be a digital bank. It's BCA's strategy to face the digitization of the banking industry.

It's now the time for BCA, as one of the largest banks in Southeast Asia, to present a digital bank. There are several kinds in Indonesia, such as Jenius by BTPN and Digibank by DBS which registration and account ownership processes don't require physical presence.

The banking services transformation is certain. In several sectors, banking is said to be left behind the financial technology startups in taking roles among communities. The strategic partnership between banking and financial technology startups happened a lot.

Currently, there has been no further information from BCA regarding the funds prepared for acquisition. They're also yet to submit the business plan, it's only the Financial Service Authority (OJK) has confirmed to give special permission to establish a digital bank.

Jahja mentioned the digital bank they have in mind is a service that allows customers to create accounts and make transactions, including to develop QR Code-based payment service.

In the last two years, BCA has built some business units related to the digital sector includes a venture capital called Capital Central Ventura (CCV), OneKlik online payment solution, and chatbot-based customer service named VIRA.

– Original article is in Indonesian, translated by Kristin Siagian