Banks Develop technology to stay relevant
Banks are trying to catch up with the digitization wave by becoming more innovative and up-to-date in their customers’ lives amid competition with financial technology { fintech } player which offer easy payment features with less bureaucracy.
Big banks do not hesitate to spend lavishly to develop digital platforms, which are expected to help customers manage their finances.
Some examples of this are private lenders Bank Tabungan Pensiunan Nasional (BTPN) and Bank Central Asia ( BCA) , both of which launched new “keyboard” features in their mobile phone apps.
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BCA guaranteed the safety of its keyboard features as did not have a memory system that can record anything the customer types into their phones, said BCA vice president director Armand Hartono during a recent event in Tangerang, Banten.
However, BCA keyboard is only available on Android at the moment.
Before the keyboard feature, BCA, the country’s largest private lender, launched QRku and OneK-link, which offer quick response (QR) codes and cardless payment technology, respectively.
In its study of 2,055 respondents in 11 cities in Indonesia, data analysis firm Nielsen Indonesia Found that young people,particulary those belonging to generations X,Y, and Z, as well as baby boomers, view online banking solutions in a positive light.
From the research, 72% of the respondents see online banking solutions as something innovative, 61% see it as something reliable, while 60% think that digital banking improves convenience.
The study shows that all generations view digilatization as an enabler to enchance their lives especially in communications, entertainment and finance. In choosing which digital bank to use, consumers put importance in pricing safety and innovation the research says.
Private lender DBS Indonesia, Part of Singapore’s DBS financial group, also takes part in the trend through its digital platform Digibank, which allow customers to open their accounts and conduct payments without the need to go to bank’s branch offices.
When DBS first launched Digibank in 2017, it could only acquire 100 customers per day, but now it can attract 1000 Digibank users per day.
Viewing the rising competition with other banks in digital innovation, BCA claims it can stay ahead as it already has a huge number of customers.
“Other banks can easily copy new digital development, but we have the critical mass. Now , we have 18 million customers and more than 400,000 merchants,” said BCA president director Jahja Setiaatmadja.
Jahja earlier said BCA had earmarked Rp 5.2 trillion (US$371.64 million) for IT improvement this year, including Rp 1 trillion set aside for digital banking development.
Currently , 97% of BCA’s transactions occur through digital channels instead of branch offices.