“The people’s safety remains a priority. Our needs have definitely changed in order to mitigate this pandemic. That is inevitable. That is what many people are calling the ‘new normal’ or the new order of life,” president Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has said. In the government’s strategy for the mitigation of COVID-19, people must stay productive but remain safe from the virus.

COVID-19 has presented new opportunities and challenges. Its existence accelerated the era of the Industrial Revolution 4.0, which is the era of technology and digitalization, in which information technology will become the center of people’s everyday activities. This has encouraged PT Bank Negara Indonesia (Persero) Tbk (BNI) to prepare to strengthen digital services across every outlet and electronic channel, including BNI Mobile Banking, BNIDirect, BNI SMS Banking, BNI Internet Banking, ATM, EDC, BNI Sonic and Agen46.

“The new normal has become inevitable for BNI, becoming a new way of life, a new way to keep making contributions while maintaining health and productivity. The changes of behavior and modes of interaction, communication and customer transactions have become the reference for BNI to implement various strategies and innovations in different functions and unit lines. A new protocol-based service has been designed and implemented simultaneously to adjust to the current modes and conditions,” said BNI vice president director Anggoro Eko Cahyo, during his visit to the BNI Rawamangun branch office in Jakarta on Tuesday. On the same occasion, directors of BNI also visited other branch offices to ensure their readiness to enter the new normal.

Anggoro said the company would keep encouraging and directing its customers, whether individual or institutional, to switch their transactions to BNI’s digital platform.

BNI director of services and networks Adi Sulistyowati –who is affectionately known as Susi – has made sure that BNI will quickly transform conventional outlets into digital outlets. Front-end services, business processes and sales models will be maximized with the support of IT infrastructure. Data storage and the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system will also be optimized as enablers of personalized service in order to ease and quicken customers’ transactions and ensure the improvement of the business.

“The strengthening of these digital services has been proven to cause better performance. Digital transactions in the first quarter of 2020 in BNI electronic service networks have increased by 31 percent overall, compared to the same period in 2019. The increase is mainly caused by the growth of transactions in BNI Mobile Banking, which is 84.4 percent higher than the first quarter of 2019,” said Anggoro.

The number of transactions through BNI Mobile Banking in Q1 2019 was 43 million. It increased to 63 million in Q1 2020, with the value increasing from Rp 56.1 trillion (US$ 3.5 billion) in Q1 2019 to Rp 103.4 trillion in Q1 2020.

Anggoro said the increase in digital transactions through BNI Direct was also seen in corporate customers. In Q1 2020, the volume of transactions using BNI Direct had increased by 55 percent compared to the same period the year before. The number of transactions also increased by 44 percent.

“This [trend] shows that institutional customers have switched to digital transactions, especially for current account customers and borrowers. All borrowers have started using BNI Cash Management this year, so the increase in cash management is very significant,” he said.

The BNI vice president director’s visit to the branch offices sought to show the appreciation of BNI management for the bank’s customers and their trust and loyalty in making BNI their financial solution partner.

“Customer satisfaction is an encouragement for us to always give the best. BNI continues its commitment to giving the best service and always being present in customers’ lives with features, conveniences and various financial solutions with added value,” said Anggoro.

The BNI directors’ visit to branch offices also aimed to show appreciation and encouragement for the frontline workers of BNI who have managed to serve and give solutions to every customer with each of their backgrounds and conditions. Appreciation was given to BNI service workers for prioritizing a good image and service while maintaining professionalism.

“The good image and service quality of BNI service workers are keys to customer satisfaction and will result in trust and loyalty. Loyal customers are strategic assets for the company who give added value in the long run,” concluded Anggoro.

Popular

Labubu dolls ride China soft-power wave

The global problem of over tourism, and why Bali is at a tipping point

Brazilian hiker's family criticises speed of Rinjani rescue effort