Indonesia-based financial services firm Bank Negara Indonesia (BNI) is looking into establishing a corporate venturing subsidiary to invest in financial technology startups, DealStreetAsia reported on Tuesday.
The move was announced by BNI director Rico Rizal Budidarmo, who confirmed a proposal was currently undergoing due diligence and was set to conclude later this year.
The unit would reportedly be led by Indra Utoyo, who is currently the operational director of financial services firm Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI). Both BNI and BRI are state-owned lenders.
If BNI goes ahead with the fund, it would join domestic peers such as Bank Mandiri, which launched its own investment arm with $36.5m in capital in 2015, and Bank Central Asia, which set up its Central Capital Ventura subsidiary with $15m in funding in January 2017.
BNI has already launched various initiatives to promote fintech products with its clients, such as digital banking, and has dedicated teams developing additional products.