Ribbit Capital to Support Bank Jago Expanding Its Ecosystem

Earlier this week (04/10), Bank Jago officially announced Ribbit Capital's arrival into the ranks of its investors. There's no further details regarding the nominal funding provided, in an IDX disclosure, it was stated that Ribbit Capital's ownership of Bank Jago does not exceed 5%.

The company's representative said that Ribbit's arrival was considered strategic because they were previously known as venture capitalists that oversee top-notch fintech applications in the global arena. Services such as Robinhood, Revolut, Affirm, Nubank, Coinbase, and Credit Karma are included in the portfolio.

Ribbit is also a shareholder in an investment app developer startup Ajaib -- they recently achieved 'unicorn' status through a new funding round with Ribbit Capital.

Validating future prospect

Digital banks are mushrooming amidst the rapidly accelerating financial technology ecosystem. It forces every service provider to present an added valuein their application. Bank Jago himself said that the formation of an ecosystem is one of its main strategies. In the last 12 months, for example, they have intensively collaborated with several fintech lending and wealth management platforms. Finally, they integrated the service into Gojek and the Bibit application.

(Ranks based on data per October 8th, 2021 on 4PM)

According to Bank Jago's President Director, Kharim Siregar, Ribbit's presence in the ranks of strategic investors shows two things. First, validation regarding the prospects for digital banks in Indonesia, especially for the future of Bank Jago products. Second, their interest in participating in increasing financial inclusion in this country.

"This is a form of investor appreciation for Bank Jago's business model as a digital bank that serves the mass market, is embedded in the ecosystem and uses the latest technology. We are on the right track to take Bank Jago to a higher level," he said.

Looking at the prospects for integration with portfolios, the situation is quite the opposite. In the wealthtech segment, currently Bank Jago has collaborated with Bibit – Ajaib's direct competitor. Meanwhile, another shareholder, Gojek, through its venture unit also invested in Pluang.

However, in general, Ribbit's experience with the world's top fintech applications is expected to provide support for achieving a broad financial services ecosystem.

Enhancing integration

Kharim also said that his company's focus this year was to develop strategic partnerships to expand the scope of its service ecosystem. The use case to do is, Bank Jago users are expected to be able to use various types of financial services without having to switch applications. In choosing a strategic partner, common vision and passion are the main consideration.

Bank Jago business model / Bank Jago

Going forward, Bank Jago will continue to improve application capabilities with various services that focus on lifestyle and financial management.

–Original article is in Indonesian, translated by Kristin Siagian