Jakarta. State-owned bank BNI reaffirmed its commitment to help grow Indonesia’s internet economy by developing digital products that focus on micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and the country’s diaspora.

Silvano Rumantir, director for wholesale and international banking at BNI, said Indonesia’s digital economy had incredible potential. Transactions in digital platforms account for 40 percent of ASEAN’s digital economy transactions, reaching $77 billion in 2022. This marked a 22 percent growth compared to 2021 figures and is forecast to continue to grow to $130 billion in 2025 and $360 billion in 2023.

“Indonesia ranks sixth place as the country with the most startups. Indonesia has 2,400 startups, including one decacorn and 15 unicorns in sectors such as e-commerce, transport, financial technology, tourism, and healthcare. We will continue to grow Indonesia’s digital economy through our various banking products,” Silvano said at the 2023 BNI Investor Daily Summit at Hutan Kota by Plataran in Jakarta on Tuesday.

Indonesian MSMEs also have a huge potential to drive Indonesia’s economy. There are over 64 million MSMEs in Indonesia and they absorb about 97 percent of the country’s workforce. The sector also accounts for 60 percent of Indonesia’s gross domestic product (GDP). So there lies a huge potential for onboarding. The government also aims to have at least 30 million MSMEs in the digital realm.

“We wish to continue developing the digital economy to build the customer experience by providing end-to-end products not just in Indonesia, but internationally,” Silvano said. 

BNI’s products --such as BNI Mobile Banking (individual customers) and BNIDirect (corporates)-- seek to be an everyday personal partner. The bank also develops products for MSMEs and diasporas via BNI Xpora.

“We encourage MSMEs to go productive, go digital and go global, including Hibank that focuses on the MSME sector, MSMEs’ digital transformation, and open up their access to online markets, as well as financing and serving MSMEs’ banking transactions,” Silvano said.

“This is a business opportunity that we can harness together to spur the national economic growth,” Silvano added.