BNC president director Tjandra Gunawan said the digital bank planned to have Rp 3 trillion in core capital by the end of the year, exceeding the OJK’s Rp 2 trillion capital requirement.

“Fulfilling this requirement is not just for the OJK, but it's also part of our digital bank transformation process,” he said during an online press conference on Monday.

As of June, the company’s core capital stood at Rp 1.14 trillion.

According to BNC’s prospectus, the company will offer 5 billion shares at a nominal value of Rp 100 each in the rights issue but has yet to decide on the selling price.

The OJK recently issued a regulation requiring digital banks to have at least Rp 2 trillion in capital by the end of the year and Rp 3 trillion by the end of 2022.

Read also: Indonesia sharpens legal framework for digital banking

Bank Neo Commerce reported a Rp 132 million loss in the first half of the year, which Tjandra attributed to additional investments in technology, human resources and marketing to serve its 6 million users and to acquire more clients.

BNC’s operational costs increased significantly, rising to Rp 268 billion in the first six months of the year from Rp 76 billion in the same period last year.

“It is inevitable that a digital bank upgrades its technology, and this investment [involves] costs,” he said. “We will focus on our main goal, which is our digital products and services. Thereby, we want to launch new features going forward.”

The bank has announced plans to expand its services to include the Quick Response Indonesia Standard (QRIS) to enable contactless payments, a cashflow management feature, digital lending and a chat feature on the BNC mobile app.

Despite booking a loss, BNC saw its assets rise 75 percent year-on-year (yoy) to Rp 7 trillion in June. Meanwhile, its third-party funds increased to Rp 5.1 trillion from Rp 3 trillion in June 2020. 

Previously known as Bank Yudha Bhakti (BBYB), the lender transformed into Bank Neo Commerce to become a digital bank in September 2020.

Read also: Small banks’ shares surge on consolidation, digital bank boost

BBYB shares soared earlier this year, along with those of other small banks, as big companies eye stakes in such lenders to meet regulatory requirements and market demand.

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