BRI Launched Digital Platform to Support Startups

Collaboration is a must in today’s digital era. Collaboration between financial technology (Fintech) companies and banks is one of the examples. Lately, Director of Digital, Information Technology, and Operations of Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI), Indra Utoyo, explained that they want to open up opportunities to collaborate with startup Fintech.

“We are very open to Fintech startups to take advantage of BRI Open Banking or BRI digital platform namely BRIAPI (BRI Application Programming Interface),” Indra said in the application release on Tuesday (9/24). BRIAPI itself is a product that enables third parties to use BRI financial functions.

In detail, third parties are allowed to take advantage of financial service features or functions from BRI on their platforms safely and quickly. This new app is expected to act as a bridge between BRI and the growing startup industry in the country.

The main goal is to improve brand awareness of BRI’s digital transformation for startups. Besides, BRIAPI is also a way for the company to open up potential cooperation with around 50 startups in Indonesia. Meanwhile, the form of cooperation is carried out by BRI Ventures.

BRIAPI Promotes Potential Cooperation with Startups

While the cooperation would be carried out by BRI Ventures, it will act as an investor to establish selected Fintech startups that are focused and strong on the formation of ecosystems. The initial investment value prepared by BRI Ventures to develop the selected startups can reach US$ 250 million.

The startups would be selected through a competition based on the BRIAPI named BRI Hackathon Digital Challenges. This competition aims to create solutions and innovations which are useful to build a digital ecosystem in Indonesia. Through this competition, BRI would allow cooperation with the selected startups.

“We want to challenge application developers out there to create an innovative product and service for the public,” Indra explained during the Indonesia Fintech Summit Expo (IFSE) 2019 in Jakarta Convention Center, Senayan. This explanation was supported by the release.

The Growth of Fintech Startups in Indonesia

On the other hand, based on data from the Indonesia Fintech Association, the Fintech industry in Indonesia has been growing from time to time. It was found that there are 235 Fintech startups from various sectors in 2018. The payment sector recorded the biggest portion with 39%.

It was followed by the loan sector which achieved 32% last year. Considering this number, there is a variety of Fintech startups that already have cooperation with BRI, such as Shopee, Gojek, Tokopedia, Investee, and Dana. With the release of BRIAPI, the company expects for more startups to join.

In terms of its existing cooperation with Fintech startups, lately, BRI has renewed its partnership with Investree by rolling out a fresh loan worth IDR 200 billion, or around $13 million. It became the second phase of the bank’s partnership with the startup.

BRI itself is a stated-controlled enterprise that is known to be the country’s largest lender by assets. With the release of BRIAPI and a competition based on this new app, the bank is supposed to help more Fintech startups to expand their business.