Grab is Reportedly Eyeing Bank Capital’s Digital Business

Shopee’s parent company, Sea Group, was reportedly interested in taking over Bank Capital (BACA). Now, it is Grab’s turn for decacorn, which is said to be eyeing the national bank’s digital service, namely Capital Net. President Director of Bank Capital Wahyu Dwi Aji confirmed that Grab is interested in entering this digital service.

“Grab is not the only digital company interested in Bank Capital,” he said, Thursday (25/2/2021). Sea Group is another company that was reportedly eyeing shares of Bank Capital and PT Bank Bumi Artha Tbk. Based on the provisions of the Financial Services Authority, commercial banks are required to have a minimum capital of IDR 3 trillion by the end of next year (2022).

The Capital Net service has been available since 2019. Quoted from the Google Play Store page, this application can be used by individual Bank Capital savings and current accounts customers, which aim to simplify transactions. Based on financial reports until the third quarter of 2020, Bank Capital has a core capital of IDR 1.47 trillion.

This means that it is already above the OJK regulations regarding the increase in core capital. Bank Capital lending in that period reached IDR 11.64 trillion, or an increase of 29% on an annual basis (year on year / yoy). Meanwhile, the profit fell 24.4% yoy to IDR 60.46 billion.

Sea Group was Reportedly Interested in Bank Capital

Previously, another Singapore-based company, Sea Group, was also reportedly interested in acquiring Bank Capital. In addition, the Shopee parent is said to be interested in Bank Bumi Arta (BNBA). So far, Sea Group has officially become the controlling share of the Welfare Economic Bank.

This BKE Bank officially changed its name to Bank Seabank Indonesia or SeaBank. Information on the name change was conveyed by the Board of Directors of Bank Seabank Indonesia to the company’s shareholders, customers and business partners through the newspaper last Monday (22/2). Apart from the name, the logo has also changed.

Grab and Sea Group both obtained a full digital bank (DFB) license from the Singapore monetary authority, aka the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) at the end of last year. Quoted from MAS’s official website, DFB is allowed to take deposits from and provide banking services for individual or retail and non-retail customer segments.

Meanwhile, digital wholesale bank (DWB) can target Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). Quoted from Reuters, analysts think that the presence of the license holder will have little impact on the three large local banks in Singapore, namely DBS Group Holdings, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp, and United Overseas Bank.

But the company can use the opportunity to expand its services to other Southeast Asian markets. This prediction is proven. Sea Group officially entered the Indonesian digital banking business through Seabank. Meanwhile, Grab is said to be interested in exploring Bank Capital’s digital services.

Grab Business is Helping MSMEs during Pandemic

On the other hand, Grab Financial has now raised over US$ 300 million in Series A funding led by Hanwha Asset Management Co. Ltd. GGV Capital, K3 Ventures, Arbor Ventures, and Flourish Ventures are also in this funding round. The company’s management said they would use the funding to help individuals and small and medium enterprises to access finance services.

A consortium by Grab and Singtel recently was selected by the Monetary Authority of Singapore to set up a digital bank in the country to serve underserved and unbanked people. Grab Financial hopes to have a full potential revenue of US$ 60 billion by 2025.

Country Managing Director of Grab Indonesia, Neneng Goenadi, said early 2020 was a difficult condition for companies because large-scale social restrictions (PSBB) were implemented in many cities and the government asked everyone to limit their mobility. Overall, the Grab business has helped many people survive the pandemic.