Standard Chartered has formed a strategic partnership with Indonesian e-commerce platform Bukalapak to launch innovative offerings to further advance its focus on digital banking.
Powered by nexus, a banking-as-a-service solution by SC Ventures, Bukalapak will work with Standard Chartered to expand their mission to enable convenient access to financial services for consumers across the market – which will potentially touch the lives of more than 200 million people in Indonesia.
When nexus was first established a year ago, SC Ventures head Alex Manson told DigFin its first big experiment for the “BaaS” idea was to provide StanChart’s license and balance sheet to third parties with big consumer bases – with a strategic relationship developing with an Indonesian e-commerce company. Presumably this was Bukalapak.
Through this partnership, Standard Chartered and Bukalapak will focus on these key areas, including:
- Bringing innovation in financial and e-commerce services: Standard Chartered and Bukalapak will offer an array of innovative financial service through Bukalapak’s ecosystem.
- Boosting financial inclusion in Indonesia: With Bukalapak’s extensive coverage to 100 million users and 13.5 million sellers, the collaboration will boost financial inclusion and further support to Indonesia’s digital economic growth.
“Commerce and financial services are crucial aspects of the well-being of society, thus, the partnership increases our spirit to create a fair economy in Indonesia,” said Rachmat Kaimuddin, CEO at Bukalapak.
The collaboration is expected to lead the innovation of digital ecosystem play in the financial sector, responding to shifting consumer behaviours during the pandemic. A recent survey by Standard Chartered revealed that the pandemic acted as a catalyst for the growth of online financial activity, with over half of global respondents using more online services in a post-pandemic world.
It found 56 percent of Indonesian consumers now prefer online purchases and payments, an increase of 16 percent pre-COVID. An overwhelming 80 percent of Indonesians also expect the country to go fully cashless by 2025.
In that regard, embedded finance is a key growth market where Standard Chartered and Bukalapak are keen to partner and develop innovative products to better serve customers’ evolving needs.
Andrew Chia, Cluster CEO, Indonesia & ASEAN Markets (Australia, Brunei & the Philippines), Standard Chartered, said: “Our inaugural partnership with Bukalapak reaffirms Standard Chartered Bank’s commitment to grow our footprint locally.”
