Entering New Customers, DBS Indonesia is Ready to Launch Digibank Application

Bank DBS Indonesia, part of the DBS Group business group in Singapore, plans to launch the digital banking application Digibank in the middle of this year. This step is the company's effort to reach new customers outside of the priority customers who have been the main customers of Bank DBS Indonesia.

Digibank is mobile-only bank, an application that allows customers to open accounts online without having to go to a branch office, no physical documents required. Customers only need an electronic ID card for the requirements to open an account.

The investment value disbursed by DBS Group for the development of Digibank reached 200 million Singapore dollars. Indonesia became the second country to try out the latest service from DBS after India at the beginning of last year. Country next are China, Taiwan and Hong Kong.

For the development of Digibank technology, DBS has embraced fintech partners from Singapore and the United States to bring artificial intelligence (AI) to services virtual assistants. In India, Digibank is claimed to have been proven to be able to answer around 80%-90% of customer questions.

It is also possible that DBS Indonesia provides an opportunity to collaborate with local fintech startups for the development of the next feature.

DBS Indonesia said that Digibank will be launched in the middle of this year. The company has stated that it holds a cooperation permit with the Director General of Population and Civil Registration (Dukcapil) for the use of electronic ID card technology.

"Now the moment is right because the Indonesian people are very adaptive to technology, so we think it can be started. In the middle of this year it will be launched," said Head of Digital Banking at Bank DBS Indonesia Leonardo Koesmanto, Monday (13/3).

The launch of Digibank in Indonesia is DBS Indonesia's strategy to expand the coverage of new customers to the productive age segment, which now rarely visits branch offices. So far, Bank DBS Indonesia's customers come from priority groups, the portion is almost 100% of the company's total customers, whose number is now more than 30 thousand people.

Priority customers, according to Leonardo, have different services. For example, they were visited directly by relationship managers from the company or visit the branch office. As of now, Bank DBS Indonesia has 44 branch offices spread across 11 major cities in Indonesia.

"Digibank is devoted to segments that have never come to the branch office. They will be served via chat facilities. We will prioritize the experience what sets us apart from other banks."

Previously, with the same initiative, Bank BTPN presented its newest product Jenius last year. The business model is not much different from Digibank. Jenius is in the form of a banking application that features savings, transfers, transactions, and debit cards. Jenius targets various age groups with high mobility and smartphone users.

Collaboration with Founder Institute Jakarta

On the same occasion, Bank DBS Indonesia collaborated with the Founder Institute Jakarta to dispatch nine graduates Founder Institute Jakarta Summer 2016 to Silicon Valley which took place on 19-25 February 2017.

There, the graduates met some of the startups that have now become part of the world's most important companies, for example, Facebook, Google, and Airbnb. They discussed directly with some of the leading individuals behind various institutions, technology research companies, venture capital companies, to angel investors linking the United States with Southeast Asia.

The results of all the meetings in Silicon Valley provide essential insights for all graduates and the DBS team who are innovating.

"We are happy to see the synergy between startups and big companies like DBS Indonesia. The spark of innovation is needed when uniting the toughness and new thinking of young entrepreneurs with the expertise of industry executives who are rich with experience," said Director of Founder Institute Jakarta Andy Zain, who is also a Managing Director at Kejora Ventures.

For DBS Indonesia, this initial step is an effort to support the tech startup ecosystem in Indonesia. Next, DBS Indonesia plans to open a separate accelerator program to target fintech startups to support the company's business.

"We plan to make accelerator program to find a solution that can give iimpact to the DBS business. There is no detailed plan yet, but there is already a direction to go there, starting with collaboration with the Founder Institute Jakarta," concluded Leo.