Get ready! SeaBank to Allo Bank (BBHI) Have New Competitors Next Year

Bisnis.com, JAKARTA – Competition in the digital banking industry in 2023 will be even more lively, after PT Bank Fama International reaffirmed its commitment to enter the underbanked market niche through digital services.

The presence of Bank Fama cannot be underestimated. The bank, whose majority shares are owned by the Emtek Group, has started preparing a myriad of plans to be executed early next year. President Director of Bank Fama Tigor M. Siahaan said that at the beginning of next year, the company will rebrand and move its head office which is currently in Bandung, West Java, to Jakarta.

In addition, Bank Fama is also preparing to launch a number of products in mid-2023.

"We can't disclose [products] now, just wait for next year," 

said Tigor to Bisnis when met in Jakarta, Thursday (8/12/2022). Bank Fama's commitment is expected to enliven digital bank competition in Indonesia, which is now home to names such as PT Bank Jago Tbk. (ARTO), PT Allo Bank Indonesia Tbk. (BBHI) PT Bank SeaBank Indonesia, and PT Bank Neo Commerce Tbk. (BBYB). Tigor stated that with a strong ecosystem from its shareholders, Bank Fama is believed to be able to navigate competition in this arena.

Based on Bank Fama's financial reports in the third quarter of 2022, Emtek through PT Media Visitama has a share portion of 62.76 percent. Meanwhile, A5-DB-Holdings and Singtel both hold 16.26 percent shares in Bank Fama. The presence of Emtek, Grab and Singtel as shareholders will indeed benefit Bank Fama. All three are noted to have a large number of MSME service users. Emtek, for example, through one of its e-commerce businesses, PT Bukalapak.com (BUKA), has 14.2 million registered shopkeepers and other MSMEs as partner users as of June 2022. BUKA also has an MSME development program.

Meanwhile, Grab also has the provision of a ride-hailing ecosystem which contains millions of MSMEs. The majority are in the culinary business line. By 2025, Grab estimates that its ecosystem will reach more than 11 million MSMEs. Ecosystems do have an important role in the landscape of the banking industry. McKinsey in an article entitled Winning in a World of Ecosystem mentions that using ecosystems can reduce customer acquisition costs. In addition, the presence of an ecosystem allows automation on a large scale, to integrate products and services in one platform. Ecosystems are also able to save on customer acquisition costs by as much as 10 to 20 percent.

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Author: Dionisio Damara
Editor : Anggara Pernando