Jakarta. Hery Gunardi, the newly appointed CEO of state-owned Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI), is a seasoned banker widely recognized for his key role in the merger of several major Indonesian banks.

Before his appointment on Monday, Hery served as the CEO of Bank Syariah Indonesia (BSI), which he helped establish by merging the Islamic banking units of BRI, BNI, and Mandiri into a single, consolidated entity.

Earlier in his career, Hery spent most of his professional life at Bank Mandiri, itself a product of the 1999 merger of four state banks: Bank Pembangunan Indonesia (Bapindo), Bank Bumi Daya, Bank Dagang Negara, and Bank Ekspor Impor Indonesia (Exim).

The 62-year-old began his career at Bapindo in 1991 after earning a master’s degree in finance and accounting from the University of Oregon. He rose through the ranks following the formation of Bank Mandiri, holding executive roles starting in 2013 and becoming Vice President Director within seven years.

He also served as Chief Commissioner of AXA Mandiri Financial Services, the bank’s insurance subsidiary, from 2013 to 2015.

In 2020, Hery was appointed CEO of Bank Syariah Mandiri, and when the government merged the sharia banking units into BSI, he was trusted to lead the new institution.

Now at the helm of Indonesia’s largest bank by assets, Hery takes over from Sunarso, under whose leadership BRI expanded its national and regional footprint, including launching its own satellite system to strengthen rural banking services. Sunarso also positioned BRI as a market leader in SME lending.

As of February, BRI managed Rp 1,380.91 trillion ($83 billion) in public savings -- 16 percent of the national total -- giving it the largest market share among all Indonesian banks.