IFC Launches First Mobile-Banking Service in Indonesia
For millions of Indonesians who live in rural areas, going to a bank may require hours of travel and time away from their family, farms or small businesses. That’s because few banks have branches in rural areas.
This is going to be a thing of the past. With up to 45 percent of Indonesians mobile phone subscribers, IFC partnered with Bank Sinar Harapan Bali and mobile phone network provider AXIS to launch Sinar Sip, Indonesia’s first mobile-banking service. Sinar Sip allows customers to perform traditional banking transactions such as fund transfers, account monitoring, and payments on their mobile phones for free.
“Now I can easily transfer money to my family in the village and make payments without leaving my shop during the day,” says Diah, a small-shop owner who recently signed up for a Sinar Sip account.
The service is set to be replicated in other parts of Indonesia to provide micro, small, and medium enterprises and low-income households access to financial services.
“The launch of Sinar Sip service reaffirms our commitment to improve our services towards micro, small, and medium enterprises and simultaneously help people who do not have access to formal financial services due to location, time, and personal financial conditions,” says IGN Alit Asmara Jaya, Director IT and Operations at Bank Sinar Harapan Bali, a Denpasar-based bank that focuses on micro and small enterprises.
In developing Sinar Sip, IFC brought its experience in developing similar products such as WING in Cambodia and WIZZIT in South Africa.
Read more about WIZZIT in South Africa
Video: Watch how WIZZIT is reaching people with no access to banks in rural South Africa
Read more about WING in Cambodia
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