Winner: Bank Rakyat Indonesia

The near 130-year-old Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI) is working towards a clear mandate: to champion financial inclusion in Southeast Asia’s largest economy. BRI is currently Indonesia’s second largest bank, with its asset size standing at IDR1,965 trillion ($121 billion).

The drive towards financial inclusion has seen the bank spread geographically and deploy technology-driven solutions. Besides the BRImo mobile app which reaches 31 million users, the bank has deployed several hybrid solutions to give it access to Indonesia’s vast unbanked and underbanked population.

For instance, BRIlink agents – a network of nearly 741,000 individuals who offer branchless banking services. These agents supplement BRI’s over 7,700 work units which include sub-branches and mobile banks. Transactions implemented by BRIlink agents have resulted in a fee-based income of IDR1.56 trillion at the end of December 2023, growing by 10% from 2022. With the addition and expansion of BRIlink agents, the bank has been able to cover 77% of all villages in Indonesia.

Having such a network in place leaves BRI well positioned to target Indonesia’s large number of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) – a segment that accounts for 99% of businesses in the country. This segment currently accounts for 84.4% of BRI’s total loans and financing distribution, or IDR1,069 trillion. BRI’s flagship micro and ultra micro segments account for 48.3% of total loans and financing, with ambitions to increase this to 85%. In 2021, supported by Indonesia’s Ministry of State Owned Enterprises, BRI collaborated with its subsidiaries Pegadaian (in the pawnbroking business) and PNM (which operates in the group lending space) to create Ultra Micro Holding, to better serve the micro and ultra micro segments. Ultra Micro Holding has successfully served over 37 million MSME customers, registering a year-on-year growth of 4.7%. 

Alongside inclusion-based goals, sustainability has emerged as a key focus for BRI. The bank raised a IDR6 trillion green bond in 2023, set 2022 as the base year for greenhouse gas emission reduction, set net zero emission targets for 2050, and is using solar panels to power as many as 93 of its offices. The bank is switching to electric vehicles and motorbikes to drive its fleet. By the end of 2023, BRI’s sustainable business portfolio has reached IDR777.3 trillion, which consists of IDR690.4 trillion in business loans disbursed to MSMEs, IDR82.3 trillion in loans to the green sector, and IDR4.54 trillion in ESG-based corporate bond investment.

With the increasing deployment of AI-based systems, BRI has created Sabrina, a virtual assistant, to help with customer service and information, integrated into the BRIMo app. By the end of 2023, the virtual assistant had recorded 55.6 million messages, with an increase in the number of questions it could answer.

With such a roadmap in place, BRI is becoming closer to its stated goal of becoming the most valuable banking group in Southeast Asia and a champion of financial inclusion in 2025. 

"BRI will continue to focus on the MSME segment to achieve its aspirations of becoming The Most Valuable Banking Group in Southeast Asia and Champion of Financial Inclusion by 2025. With the national economic structure dominated by MSMEs, providing loans to MSME players is expected to create a high multiplier effect, so that it can have a significant positive impact on the Indonesian economy" 
Sunarso, President Director of BRI