Line Bank Is Officially Available in Indonesia, in Collaboration with Bank Hana

KEB Hana Bank Indonesia (Hana Bank) and LINE Corporation officially launched LINE Bank by Hana Bank (LINE Bank) in Indonesia yesterday (10/6) which was marked by the launch of its application for public. Indonesia is LINE Bank's third market, following Thailand (LINE BK) and Taiwan (LINE Bank).

Collaboration between the two companies started in October 2018, when LINE Financial Asia acquired 20% stake in Hana Bank through an equity participation agreement. This was the beginning of the first foreign digital banking service, between banks and technology companies.

“LINE Bank will be available in the Indonesian financial industry to provide digital banking services that are convenient and easy to use. [..] LINE Bank will provide various financial products and fintech services that are tailored to the needs and interests of our customers," Hana Bank's President Director, Jong Jin Park said in an official statement, Friday (11/6).

LINE Financial Asia's COO, Young Eun Kim added, "We will do our best through the collaboration of LINE and Hana Bank, therefore, Indonesian people can use LINE Bank and enjoy more convenient financial services."

LINE Bank will provide financial services to a wider customer segment, including Generation Z as the majority of LINE users. The entire registration process of a new Hana Bank customer who want to create a LINE Bank account is done through the application, a debit card will be sent after the process is complete.

LINE Bank focuses on providing retail banking services, including deposits, savings and transfers. For savings, LINE Bank offers free transfer fees, cash withdrawals, and monthly admin fees. The balance currently available to be used to pay electricity and credit bills.

All LINE Bank transaction notifications are connected to the LINE Messenger application. Meanwhile, for deposit products, LINE Bank offers savings starting from IDR 1 million with competitive yields.

In Thailand, for example, LINE collaborated with Kasikornbank (KBank) to offer special rate account openings with interest rates up to 1.5% per year and debit card applications. This whole process is done through the LINE app, therefore, users don't have to switch apps or remember another account numbers.

In addition, the Credit LINE personal loan product can be applied at any time, the approval process is faster, therefore, the money can be immediately disbursed. In the future, LINE BK will offer a wider variety of financial solutions, such as insurance products and financial investments.

It is said that LINE BK is able to reach more than 2 million users in February 2021, four months after its debut. As many as 50 thousand new savings accounts are opened every day and the number of transactions has exceeded 21 billion Bath (approximately 9.8 trillion Rupiah).

After Indonesia, Thailand, and Taiwan, LINE Bank's next step is to enter Japan, as one of the largest LINE user base countries.

More banks are offering fully digital services to attract new digital savvy and mass market customers. The ability to mix financial products that are in line with target consumers is considered an effective move.

OJK reports that there are currently seven banks in the process of licensing to become digital banks. Those are Bank BCA Digital, BRI Agro, Bank Neo Commerce, Bank Capita, Bank Harda Internasional, Bank QNB Indonesia, and Bank Hana.

In addition, there are five banks that already established as digital banks. Those are Bank BTPN, Wokee from Bank KB Bukopin, Digibank owned by DBS Bank, TMRW from Bank UOB, and Jago owned by Bank Jago.

–Original article is in Indonesian, translated by Kristin Siagian