April 21, 2023
JAKARTA – Super Bank Indonesia (Superbank), a digital bank backed by local conglomerate Emtek Group, Southeast Asian superapp Grab and Singapore-based telecommunication company Singtel, has provided a credit facility of an undisclosed amount to PT Teknologi Pengangkutan Indonesia (TPI).
TPI is a car rental company that has leased thousands of vehicles to GrabCar drivers across the country. Superbank said TPI would use the loans to purchase more than 1,000 additional cars that could be rented by GrabCar drivers.
“The deal with TPI is the beginning of a long-term partnership between Superbank and its ecosystem partners. We hope this initiative can open more opportunities for Grab’s driver-partners to reap the benefits of our financing,” Superbank chief business officer Sukiwan said in a statement on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, TPI’s chief operating officer Yusa Oktavia said Grab’s driver-partners were part of the underbanked population in the country, and the partnership could help them increase their income.
On its website, Grab Indonesia explains that drivers who do not have cars of their own can still become GrabCar partners by using a service called GrabRental. They would only be charged a daily rental fee, without having to cover regular maintenance costs and insurance expenses.
The service is currently available in Greater Jakarta, Bandung, Medan, Makassar and Surabaya.
Aside from cars, a rental service is also available for electric motorcycles, Grab notes on its website.
Digital facelift
Superbank, which was called Bank Fama International until it changed its name earlier this year and rebranded itself as a digital bank, was founded in 1993. Emtek Group acquired the bank in 2021, before Grab and Singtel joined as shareholders last year.
The bank, which introduced its new name in February, plans to offer digital banking solutions. Aside from retail and small and medium enterprise (SME) customers, it also targets users in the ecosystems of its shareholders, such as Grab users, drivers and merchant partners as well as subscribers of Emtek and Singtel’s business units.
Superbank is one of the newest players in Indonesia’s digital banking ecosystem, emerging in its rebranded form after Bank Jago, Bank Neo Commerce, SeaBank and Allo Bank.
Other banks expected to be relaunched as digital lenders in the near future are Bank Jasa Jakarta, which was acquired by Hong Kong-based WeLab and PT Astra International last year, as well as Krom Bank, which is controlled by Singapore-based buy now, pay later (BNPL) firm Kredivo Holdings.
At the beginning of last year, Superbank appointed former CIMB Niaga president director Tigor M. Siahaan as its CEO.