Indonesia’s top bank spent $35m this year to develop digital banking app

Details:

• Sigit Prastowo, Bank Mandiri’s director of strategy and finance, said that the company has spent up to 4 trillion rupiah (around US$280 million) for IT expenditures this year. This includes development costs for Livin’ and for another app focused on wholesalers, which the bank will launch in the fourth quarter of the year.
• In a statement, Bank Mandiri said it will integrate the Livin’ app with other merchants and ecommerce services, as well as with its own subsidiaries such as Bank Syariah Indonesia and Mandiri Sekuritas.

Dive deeper:

• Livin’ is a major update to Mandiri Online, which Bank Mandiri rolled out in 2017. When the bank launched Livin’ in March, the app already had 4.5 million users.
• The move comes as competition in Indonesia’s digital banking space heats up, with big startups such as Gojek, Sea Group, and Akulaku also entering the space. (Read: Why Indonesia’s tech giants find digital banks irresistible)

Currency converted from Indonesian rupiah to US dollar: US$1 = 14,272.75 rupiah.