Redefining Banking

DBS Indonesia is redefining banking experiences in digital era.

- Ester Christine Natalia

Nowadays, digitalization has disrupted lots of conventional businesses. Companies that have been established for over a decade are now competing head-to-head against stratups-most of wich were founded in the last five years. In Indonesia, the major change can be seen in financial industry with the boom of startups delivering innovations from a combination between financial services and technology. The new phenomenon called financial technology, or popularly known as fintech, boasts convenient procedures and seamless process in obtaining financial services in far simpler way compared with the conventional finance company. As of February, there are 99 fintech companies registered at the Financial Services Authority (OJK). These fintechs are specifically targeting unbanked people in Indonesia, which are 95 million people according to World Bank Global Findex 2017.

To stay updated with the changing trend, DBS Indonesia launched a consumer-banking product called Digibank. The name itself is self-explained, the product promotes a digital access to banking services through smartphone application. The subsidiary of Singapore-based lender claims the product, which is only available in Indonesia and India, as a purely paperless banking product.

“We want the smartphone to substitute brick-and-mortar banks. So the smartphone becomes the bank itself, not merely an extension for banking services in a smartphone,” says DBS Indonesia President Director Paulus Irwan Sutisna, 54, adding that the bank currently has 44 branches throughout Indonesia and has no plan to open more.