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Hello there,
In this digital age, we overvalue convenience and often at a price.
I’ve ordered food at a premium even though I could have gotten a superior and cheaper alternative if I’d taken a 10-minute walk. I’ve also paid surge prices for a cab during peak hours when I could have just as easily commuted via the train.
In Indonesia, tens – if not hundreds – of thousands of urbanites bank with commercial banks like Bank Mandiri and Bank Central Asia. But what many don’t know is that they could earn up to 2.5% more in interest on their savings – guaranteed by the government – at one of the archipelago’s 1,500 Bank Perkreditan Rakyat (BPR), or rural banks.
However, it’s natural to seek out convenience when banking. You want to be able to open a bank account and fulfill your banking needs immediately at a nearby bank branch – or better still, online.
In this week’s Big Story, my colleague, Qishin, sketches out a profile of Komunal, an Indonesia-based fintech company aiming to bridge the funding gap between rural borrowers and urban depositors.
A first step in that process is digitalizing the onboarding processes for rural banks so depositors can access them from anywhere in Indonesia without making a trip to a bank in the countryside. Rural banks, meanwhile, can tap an additional source of funds without needing marketing or expanding their physical networks.
In other news, a Singapore user of online stock trading platform Tiger Brokers was in for a rude shock when he was charged about US$16,000 in fees after making a sell trade on US stocks that were valued at about US$5,000. I discuss the value proposition of so-called “commissions-free” brokerages in this week’s Hot Take.
— Melissa
THE BIG STORY
Indonesia has 1,500 rural banks. Komunal is bringing them online
Image credit: Timmy Loen
Neo-rural bank Komunal is reaching underbanked consumers with a local touch through the People’s Credit Bank network.
THE HOT TAKE
A trade gone terribly wrong
Pitching unsavvy investors?
NEWS YOU SHOULD KNOW
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