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ANDUNG: The regional development bank of West Java and Banten provinces, Bank Jabar Banten (Bank BJB), is planning to launch an international banking service.

“We have launched a foreign exchange service and are currently preparing all the requirements to develop an international banking service,” Bank BJB president director Agus Ruswendi said as quoted by kontan.co.id over the weekend.

He said the proposed service would improve the bank’s business and financial performance.

“The international banking service is a strategic plan to boost our business performance in addition to collecting third party funds [DPK] and establishing a loan channeling cooperation, Agus said.

Previously, the West Java chapter of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) suggested that Bank BJB develop the service as a way to catch up with other banks already offering similar services.

“There are many industries in West Java that will benefit from the service, especially in the payment of export and import fees,” West Java Kadin chief Agung Suryaman Soetrisno said as quoted by Antara.

Agung said that he was certain the implementation of the service would result in a wider market penetration for the bank.

“The bank’s decision to go public last year should be followed by plans to introduce a more complete variation of services,” Agung said.

Bank BJB, which went public in July 2010, recorded a gross profit of more than Rp 351 billion (US$40.7 million) in the first quarter of 2011, up 25.43 percent from the same period in 2010, when it booked Rp 280.24 billion gross profit. — JP