The bank has been an early adopter of digital and has in fact developed unique API system:
Bank Permata, or Permata Bank, is one of Indonesia’s BUKU IV bank (meaning a category of Indonesian banks with the highest level of capital as mandated by the country’s financial services regulator) and has a total capital exceeding Indonesian Rupiah 30 trillion. It has some 4 million customers and has presence in 62 cities of country, through its 300-plus branches.
The bank has a chequered history. It was acquired by Standard Chartered Bank and PT Astra International in 2004 and underwent a massive organizational transformation. Subsequently after a long process, it was acquired by Bangkok Bank in May 2020 and which is currently its owner having 98.71% of its shares. The bank today is a universal bank with a full suite of banking products and services, including current and savings accounts, time deposits, mutual funds, bonds, personal loans, credit card and mortgage for retail customers, available in Conventional and Sharia. It also offers working capital loans, dealer finance, join finance, transaction banking, trade finance, foreign exchange, as well as securities and agencies services for its SME and corporate customers.
TOPPING DIGITAL TRANSACTIONS
The bank has been a true believer in the benefits of digitization, namely business growth, enhancing customer experience, productivity and efficiency. It had at one point of time recorded a 200% year-on-year growth in the total number of digital transactions, reflecting its commitment to partnerships with service providers. For example, it has a long-term tie-up with Indomaret, a chain of retail convenience stores in Indonesia, and has developed a system of cash withdrawal at more than 20,000 franchise locations in the country. The bank has also continuously updated its mobile banking super app PermataMobile X and created internet banking PermataNET technology.
The bank has a long-term technology-based partnership with the Association of Indonesian Rural Banks (Perbarindo) for facilitating provision of banking technology through PermataAPI. The bank is the first in the country to implement blockchain-based system in trade finance through a collaboration with Contour. It had also launched the first Shariah API solution for Islamic financial institutions.
CMS FOR SME
Permata Bank offers a highly efficient SME Cash Management solution, which is specifically designed for SMEs, a service that allows the customers to make transactions anywhere easily, efficiently, in real time, and safely. SME customers get a virtual account, which simplifies the income reconciliation process in real time. For customers who own business models that rely on huge cash payments or giro, cash pick up/delivery and post-dated cheque facilities are also available.
The bank also has Permata Business, an internet banking service accessible via mobile banking app or through the bank’s website, using which customers can make payments to business partners, both domestic and international, to tax authorities as well as to staff in terms of salaries and bills.
In addition, the bank also has products, including PermataMobile X, a mobile banking app with over 200 features, and QR Pay, which uses QR Code Indonesia Standard for making digital payments.
API AND COLLABORATION
The bank has been a visionary when it decided that the APIs built for internal developer teams should be made available to external partners as well. For this, the bank developed an integration layer connected to its core platform, with an API gateway built on the Amplify API Management Platform.
The bank also visualized that using APIs it could reach unbanked young entrepreneurs and highly educated under 30-year-olds by underwriting bank account services for fintech partners. The bank is now working with fintech partners in wealth management and P2P lenders, as well as enabling payments APIs for platform businesses like e-commerce, rideshare, payment gateways and online gaming sites.
Using APIs, the bank could create an innovative solution to a traditional problem. It had a mobile app that allowed customers to buy and trade shares. However, after new customers opened trading accounts in the app, they had to physically visit an offline bank to open a funding account. This discouraged customers, who often dropped out of the proposal. The bank then embedded its API into the wealth management provider’s app, so that when a customer opened a trading account, Permata Bank could open a funding account for the customer as well.
Indonesia is considered as the largest digital economy in Southeast Asia and the country has the 3rd largest youth population in the world. As a true Indonesian bank, Permata Bank has been at the forefront of utilizing digital technology for innovation and for developing a consistent customer experience in every delivery of its products and services. The bank has been striving to optimally utilize digital opportunities and its aim has been to develop great features and world-class design for all its products.
This article has been compiled based on publicly available information on the web, particularly the bank’s own website.
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