Bank Rakyat Indonesia to Speed Up Migration to BRIsat
Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI), one of Indonesia's largest financial institutions, will accelerate the migration of its ATM network and operating units to BRIsat, the company's satellite that was launched on 20 June 2016. Indra Utoyo, Director of Digital Banking and Technology at BRI, said many - but not all - of the bank's ATMs and operating units have already been migrated to BRIsat.
The launch of BRIsat in mid-2016 was a milestone; not only for Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI) but also for the global banking industry as BRI will become the first bank to operate its own communications satellite. Considering Indonesia is the world's largest archipelago, a satellite is considered more efficient than fiber optic. With the BRIsat, state-controlled BRI (which is listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange) is able to reach (potential) customers in the remote areas across the country.
Hence, BRI's management targets to attract up to 10 million new BRI clients over the next couple of years through the BRIsat. Currently, less than half of the Indonesian population (which numbers around 260 million) has access to banking services, while the country is also characterized by a lack of financial literacy, thus banking penetration remains at a relatively low level. Based on data from the World Bank, only 36.1 percent of Indonesia's adult population owned a bank account in 2014.
Prior to the launch of BRIsat, BRI was mainly dependent on the Telkom 1 satellite, owned by Telekomunikasi Indonesia (Telkom). However, over the weekend, there were some technical difficulties with the Telkom 1 satellite, implying part of BRI's ATM network and operating units were affected as well. These technical difficulties could be the reason why BRI is now eager to speed up the migration of its full ATM and operating unit network to its own BRIsat.
Benefits of the BRIsat:
- Cuts BRI's operational costs for its communication network
- Curtails connection problems in BRI's network across the archipelago
- Makes banking services available in the remote areas of Indonesia
On Monday (28/08) shares of BRI were down 0.33 percent to IDR 15,250 a piece by 10:00 am local Jakarta time. So far this year, however, the company's shares have risen 30.62 percent.
Stock Quote Bank Rakyat Indonesia - BBRI: