Org Chart: The execs stewarding Akulaku’s growth

Org Chart maps out the people at the top of Asia’s most prominent tech companies. Who are the key decision-makers? How are the teams organized? What does it tell us about the company’s priorities? We continue this series with Indonesia-based fintech company Akulaku.

Ant Group-backed Akulaku has had a challenging few months.

The Indonesia-based fintech firm, whose services include buy now, pay later (BNPL) and virtual credit cards, was ordered by the country’s financial services authority (OJK) to halt its BNPL service last October due to alleged violations of supervisory obligations.

Those restrictions were lifted in March this year.

Besides BNPL and credit cards, Akulaku also offers ecommerce and online wealth management services through Akulaku Silvrr Indonesia and Pintar Inovasi Digital (Asetku), respectively.

Akulaku also operates digital banking services through Bank Neo Commerce (BNC). As of May 2023, Akulaku owns a 27.3% stake in the digital bank via Akulaku Silvrr Indonesia.

As competition in Indonesia’s digital banking scene heats up, BNC has beefed up its leadership team with key appointments.

Last month, BNC appointed a former head of commercial banking at HSBC Eri Budiono as its new CEO. Previously, Budiono was also the CEO of Jakarta-based greentech firm TerraThrive.

See also: ‘Buy now, pay later’ is not dead

Budiono has a lot to prove. BNC’s share price sat at 252 rupiah (US$0.02) apiece as of May 6, down roughly 90% from a peak of around US$0.17 in late 2021.

As of March this year, BNC had about 26 million users. Between 2022 and 2023, its total loans disbursed increased 5% to US$663 million, while its losses rose 27% to US$35.2 million.

Apart from BNC in Indonesia, Akulaku also fully owns OwnBank, a banking and financial management app in the Philippines. The platform is run by the fintech firm’s country manager for the Philippines, Patrik Konrad Ticzon.

OwnBank has seen some traction so far: As of January, only a few months after its October 2023 launch, OwnBank had onboarded 500,000 retail customers in the Philippines.