JB Financial Group (KRX:175330), a Korea-based retail finance group, announced on Monday it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with CIMB Niaga, a leading Indonesian commercial bank, and MITRA JASA LIMA for the open banking platform business in Indonesia.
According to JB Financial, the MOU represents that The Group is the first Korean banking group exporting its unique open banking platform, in contrast to the practice of entering new markets through local banking license acquisition. JB Financial explained:
“CIMB Group is a Malaysian banking operation comprising with exposure to retail, corporate, investment and Islamic banking and being its achievements are often cited as worthy of a role model in ASEAN capital market. In Indonesia, the Bank, under the name of Bank CIMB Niaga, has grown to be the second largest private commercial bank with total assets of USD 18 billion. Its fundamentals are also impressive with 1.87% ROA, 5.1% NIM and 9.76% ROE.”
The open banking platform, “Obank,” was reportedly launched in last year by JB Financial. It facilitates various Fintech companies to cooperate with JB’s banking affiliates by using open APIs. Through cooperation, customers will be able to use faster, cheaper and more convenient financial services such as P2P lending, international remittance, and bill payment.
Speaking about the MOU, Roberto Akyuwen, a deputy commissioner of banking supervisor IV at the Indonesia Financial Supervisory Authority (OJK), stated that through the JB Financial Group’s open banking platform, more than 1,600 local banks (BPRs) in Indonesia will be able to improve their banking processes in an efficient way and create fee-based revenues. The cooperation will also drive greater financial inclusion in Indonesia and contribute to building financial stability in the financial services industry.
Founded in 1968, JB Financial Group describes itself as one of the leading retail finance groups in South Korea and offers a variety of financial services to its customers. The Group noted it has five affiliates which include two banks, one multi-finance company and one asset management company in South Korea, and one bank in Cambodia. JB Financial is currently expands its footprints to South East Asia and has been experiencing remarkable growth in asset size with its solid expansion strategy
