Fintech unicorn Xendit buys minority stake in local bank

Xendit, an Indonesia-based payment gateway startup, has acquired a minority stake in Bank Sahabat Sampoerna, a local bank that focuses on SMEs. The size of the deal was undisclosed.

Xendit founders (from left): Juan Gonzalez, Moses Lo, Tessa Wijaya, and Bo Chen / Photo credit: Xendit

In a statement, the startup said it will be a tech partner to the bank with a view to improving the latter’s internal processes. Both companies will continue to run independently and won’t change their existing products or services. However, they will work together on a long-term strategy.

Founded in 1990, Bank Sahabat Sampoerna has around 21 offices across Indonesia. The bank is currently owned by two local conglomerates: Sampoerna Group, whose main business is in the tobacco industry, and Alfa Group, which has large offline retail networks in the country.

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Xendit entered the unicorn club last year after raising US$150 million from Tiger Global, Accel, Amasia, and Goat Capital. In total, it has raised around US$238 million so far since its establishment.

Recently, the fintech firm announced plans to acquire two local financial companies: Globalindo Multi Finance and Emas Persada Finance.