The absence of cash machines on many of Indonesia’s Spice Islands, where cloves and nutmeg once made sultans and European explorers wealthy, means banking is often done on boats that can carry automated teller machines.
PT Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BBRI), the world’s largest microlender, is expanding to the edges of the archipelago’s 17,000 islands with over 500 new branches to develop local economies, President Director Sofyan Basir said in an interview. Bankers only reach some islands once a week in boats, he said.
State-controlled Rakyat plans to open 571 small and microlending sites, to add to its nearly 10,000 branches in the country. It expects 75 percent of total loans to come from micro finance to small and medium enterprises, Basir said.
Basir said the bank’s profit growth this year may match last year’s 14 percent.
He shrugged off growing competition in the microcredit industry from lenders such as PT Bank Danamon Indonesia (BDMN) and PT Bank Mandiri (BMRI), saying Rakyat operated with smaller loans that can be as low as a million rupiah ($80) for a day.
(Business Week)
PT Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BBRI), the world’s largest microlender, is expanding to the edges of the archipelago’s 17,000 islands with over 500 new branches to develop local economies, President Director Sofyan Basir said in an interview. Bankers only reach some islands once a week in boats, he said.
State-controlled Rakyat plans to open 571 small and microlending sites, to add to its nearly 10,000 branches in the country. It expects 75 percent of total loans to come from micro finance to small and medium enterprises, Basir said.
Basir said the bank’s profit growth this year may match last year’s 14 percent.
He shrugged off growing competition in the microcredit industry from lenders such as PT Bank Danamon Indonesia (BDMN) and PT Bank Mandiri (BMRI), saying Rakyat operated with smaller loans that can be as low as a million rupiah ($80) for a day.
(Business Week)
