Indonesian Bank Central Asia to invest $15M in fintech firms

Indonesian private bank Bank Central Asia (BCA) announced that it will be investing $15 million (200 billion rupiah) in fintech companies in order to use these startups to reach ‘unbankable’ customers, Asia Nikkei reported.

According to a stock exchange filing last Friday, the bank will own 100% of the startup Central Capital Ventura. The firm plans to collaborate with fintech firms, which aims to support the bank's financial services and its subsidiaries.

There have been a growing number of fintech companies that are exploring cutting-edge technologies in order to analyze the credit quality and process payments. These fintechs are filling the gap in reaching out ‘unbankable’ customers through smartphones.

BCA is one of the largest retail banking in Indonesia and most advanced payments system. Being the largest private bank in the country, it has around 1,200 branches and 17,000 automated teller machines.

More Indonesian companies are viewing potentials in fintech. Last year, a state-owned Bank Mandiri established a 500 billion rupiah venture capital unit Mandiri Capital Indonesia in a move to foster fintech startups that are into small businesses.