Hong Kong fintech WeLab to launch digital bank in Indonesia
07/12/2021 06:21
Dec 7 (Reuters) - Hong Kong fintech WeLab said on Tuesday it
will buy a controlling stake in Indonesian commercial lender PT
Bank Jasa Jakarta and launch a digital bank in the country - one
of Asia's fastest-growing digital economies.
WeLab, backed by Allianz ALVG.DE and billionaire Li
Ka-Shing's TOM Group 2383.HK , said it had secured $240 million
from existing and new investors to help fund the deal.
A WeLab-led group has already picked up 24% of PT Bank Jasa
Jakarta and will buy the remaining majority stake following
regulatory approvals, the Hong Kong firm added.
It will launch a digital bank in the second half of 2022 in
Indonesia - a country where only 52% of households have access
to a bank account while most have access to internet-enabled
mobile phones, according to a World Bank report.
With Indonesia's internet economy booming, regional lenders
DBS Group DBSM.SI and United Overseas Bank UOBH.SI have
launched digital offerings, while GoTo, the country's top tech
firm, has invested https://www.reuters.com/business/gojek-backed-bank-jago-aims-leverage-tech-giants-data-2021-07-06
in Bank Jago ARTO.JK .
PT Bank Jasa Jakarta has assets worth 6.6 trillion rupiah
($457.92 million), including 2.6 trillion rupiah in loans and
4.9 trillion rupiah in total savings, based on its unaudited
financial report at the end of the third quarter.
The Indonesian digital bank will be WeLab's second in Asia
after officially launching in Hong Kong in 2020, where the
company says it now has more than 150,000 customers.
($1 = 14,413 rupiah)
(Reporting by Nikhil Kurian Nainan, Additional reporting by
Gayatri Suroyo in Jakarta; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)
((NikhilKurian.Nainan@thomsonreuters.com; Twitter:
@NikhilKurianN))