Jakarta, May 2, 2019 - PT Bank Negara Indonesia (Persero) Tbk (BNI) and PT Kudo Teknologi Indonesia (Kudo) are working together to provide digital financial service solutions to the general public, especially in rural areas. Through this collaboration, BNI allows Kudo’s agents to provide more complete financial services.
The collaboration was sealed by the signing of a cooperation agreement (PKS) between BNI e-Banking Division leader Anang Fauzie and the CEO and cofounder of Kudo Agung Nugroho in Jakarta on May 2. Also present to witness the signing ceremony was BNI director of retail banking Tambok P. Setyawati.
Tambok said in expanding the network of banking services to unbanked people, BNI presented Agen46, which served as the middle man for money transfers, account opening, deposits and cash withdrawals, mobile phone credit and electricity token purchases, monthly bill payment handling, such as for electricity and water bills, and other services. Kudo’s agents already have similar services.
"Through this collaboration, Kudo's agents, who are ready all across Indonesia, will be able to provide money transfer services between banks. In addition to the transfer feature, Kudo's agents who are also Agen46 can gradually serve the community if they want to open new accounts, deposit money, withdraw cash, obtain community micro credits and purchase micro insurance. They also help in distributing funds in government social assistance programs," Tambok said.
Tambok added that the community could bring cash to Kudo's agents and carry out the transfer process facilitated by BNI. This is proof that BNI has continued to expand its collaboration in financial technology (fintech), with the digital financial services further emphasizing that BNI is digital banking.
Agung Nugroho said Kudo was committed to upgrading traditional kiosks in Indonesia to multiservice stalls, so that they could provide all products and services to its customers. The kiosks would not only sell daily groceries – it would help customers top up on credit for mobile phones, provide electricity tokens and facilitate the payment of bills and payments for travel tickets. As multiservice stalls, the kiosks would be able to stock items internally through a digital application and offer a variety of digital financial services, helping those in the neighborhood to become Grab drivers that earn additional income.
"Presenting an interbank transfer feature through a cooperation network of Kudo, BNI and Kudo agents improves financial inclusion and provides a bridge between financial services and unbanked communities with limited digital access. We believe this collaboration can benefit the stall owners who are Kudo's agents as well as benefit their customers. They can carry out banking transfers without going to the bank. This also shows Kudo's commitment to helping traditional kiosks to become more versatile and increase their income by offering digital financial services," Agung said.
With the BNI-Kudo collaboration, it is now easier for communities in the second-tier of the city to conduct banking transactions. The Agen46 features embedded in the Kudo agent will boost the current available services in the Kudo application.