S

tate-owned lender Bank Mandiri plans to provide its customers with an easier transaction process through mobile messaging apps and e-commerce platforms by next year to attract more customers and boost
transactions.

The lender declined to unveil the name of the messaging app but said the partnership would allow money transfer services through the chatting platform.

“We have started an early discussion with them [the chatting platform]. The commitment is real, but we need to discuss the flow and it takes time,” Bank Mandiri senior vice president of digital banking Sunarto Xie said in Semarang, Central Java, on Thursday.

He added that the lender had already signed a non-disclosure agreement regarding the deal. While declining to reveal the name of the app, Sunarto said the collaboration was also part of the lender’s strategy to collect data by analyzing consumers’ behavior.

“We want to leverage other platforms’ traffic, as we know that almost everyone uses this messaging app. We are looking for [customer] data to know their behavior, so later we can offer more targeted promotions,” he said.

Similarly, the lender aims to enable customers to use banking services through top e-commerce platforms in Indonesia, such as Tokopedia, Bukalapak, Shopee, JD.id and Lazada.

The idea behind this strategy came from the platforms’ high number of active users, so Bank Mandiri can leverage their traffic. For instance, 80 million people visit Tokopedia every month, of which 10 to 15 million make purchases after browsing, Sunarto said.

Bank Mandiri hopes it can allow people to open bank accounts through e-commerce marketplaces and apply for loans next year, but emphasized that it would continue to adhere to regulations made by the government and regulators.

So far, the bank has collaborated with Tokopedia to provide e-money top up services.

As part of the lender’s effort to face the digital 4.0 era, Bank Mandiri will launch Mandiri Pay on Dec. 10. The new app can be used by customers to make payments with QR code technology.

With the use of QR codes, the bank is optimistic that it can improve efficiency, so its investment in electronic data capture (EDC) will gradually subdue in the future.

In Indonesia, a country with more than 260 million people and a high rate of smartphone users, cash is still the preferred method of payment. Mandiri believes that the use of QR technology will be successful as long as all related stakeholders are willing to adapt to the change.

In order to realize its plans next year, Bank Mandiri has prepared to invest heavily in technology, primarily to develop back information technology infrastructure and security systems.

“Sixty to 70 percent of our digital technology budget will be allocated for business process reengineering and for upgrading our security systems,” Sunarto said on the sidelines of a media gathering.

Previously, Bank Mandiri president director, Kartika “Tiko” Wirjoatmodjo, said Mandiri was committed to investing around US$200 million in IT in 2019, an increase from about $150 million in 2018.

Over the years, customer transactions in Bank Mandiri has shifted toward mobile and internet banking. Bank Mandiri’s latest data from 2017 shows that 40 percent of customers make transactions using mobile banking, followed by 37 percent using internet banking, 17 percent using ATMs and 6 percent in office branches.