Bank Rakyat Indonesia
Last year, it was one of eight banks involved in setting up the Indonesian sustainable finance initiative under the Financial Services Authority. As chair of the initiative, BRI promotes strategic programmes, builds partnerships and initiates projects to establish a green business model.
Promoting financial inclusion and literacy is an important part of the bank’s work. It emphasizes cashless transactions by developing e-channel networks to increase awareness of non-cash trades. It also offers branchless banking service BRILink, operated directly by customers. At the end of 2018, BRI had 401,550 BRILink agents, or 5.7% more than its target of 380,000, ensuring that it was able to boost financial inclusion.
Led by chief executive Suprajarto Suprajarto, state-owned BRI supports government programmes that focus on improving community welfare through loans and grants.
In addition to these, the bank provides financing to the green sector and only banks companies that have an environmental impact analysis document and a minimum blue rating under the ministry of environment and forestry’s environmental programme.
BRI also funds private companies that produce new and renewable energy, such as solar power plants and hydroelectric power plants. It lent Rp2.8 trillion ($197 million) in funding to the renewable energy sector last year — a whopping 81% more than in 2017.
What’s next on the bank’s agenda? In November 2018, BRI put together a sustainable finance action plan, which encompasses short- and long-term goals for the next five years. In 2019, the bank is mainly focusing on issuing sustainability bonds, providing sustainable finance training and education to employees and customers and reducing plastic consumption.