Indonesia-based financial services firm Bank Central Asia (BCA) will set up a wholly-owned corporate venturing subsidiary called Central Capital Ventura (CCV) with Rp 200bn ($15m) in capital, Nikkei reported on Saturday, citing a stock exchange filing.
CCV will focus on the financial technology sector, particularly seeking out opportunities that will give BCA an edge over its domestic competitors in attracting unbanked and underbanked customers.
More than half of adult Indonesians do not have a bank account and have proven unreachable thus far due to the high cost of opening branches in rural areas.
BCA operates approximately 1,200 branches and 17,000 cash machines across Indonesia as well as a payments system. It is the largest private bank in the country, with Rp 600 trillion in assets.
The bank’s launch of a corporate venture capital unit follows state-owned rival Bank Mandiri’s decision to establish a strategic investment division called Mandiri Capital Indonesia with Rp 500bn in funding in 2015, also with the goal of targeting fintech businesses.
State-owned telecommunications firm Telekomunikasi Indonesia meanwhile operates its own mobile payment service as well as a corporate venturing subsidiary called Metra Digital Innovation. Metra operates incubators and accelerators in Indonesia, Singapore and Silicon Valley.