Venture capital firm Ribbit Capital recently bought a minority stake in a Jakarta-based digital bank Bank Jago, the country’s first fully digital bank, according to a report Monday (Oct. 4) by The Straits Times.
Bank Jago has already teamed with ride-hailing app Gojek and online shopping finance platform Akulaku.
“We are witnessing a revolution in digital banking around the world,” Ribbit Capital managing partner Micky Malka said in a joint statement with Bank Jago Monday. “Bank Jago has made tremendous progress towards growing digital banking services for Indonesians.”
Bank Jago’s commitment “to serve Indonesia’s consumers with the best digital banking and fintech products” is what made the company an appealing investment target, he said.
Ribbit Capital did not say how much it invested in Bank Jago.
“This is an important validation — that one of the world’s leading fintech investors, Ribbit Capital, recognizes Bank Jago’s impact on progressing digital financial inclusion in Indonesia,” said Bank Jago President-Director Karim Siregar in the joint announcement.
Bank Jago commissioner Anika Faisal recently told The Straits Times that “banks must be present in digital ecosystems.
“This is how people do their banking nowadays, instead of visiting a bank,” she said, noting digital banks allow for increased customization.
“In the past, customers would adjust to bank products on offer,” said Faisal. “But banks must now adjust to the customers. How do customers want to do it? That’s the way the bank should do it. Banks now follow the customers, not the other way around.”
Related: Indonesia’s Digital Bank Jago Taps Tech Data For User Profiles
In July, Bank Jago announced plans to create user profiles from technology data that will help it develop and market financial products according to customers’ lifestyles.
The company is also hoping to extend loan applications via the Gojek app after adding the ability to open bank accounts through the platform this summer.
Bank Jago started offering financial services in March via its app even before it officially launched banking products. The digital bank also got funding from the Singaporean sovereign wealth fund GIC Pte. earlier this year.
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