Hong Kong fintech WeLab to launch digital bank in Indonesia

Dec. 7 (Reuters) – Hong Kong fintech WeLab said on Tuesday it would buy a controlling stake in Indonesian commercial lender PT Bank Jasa Jakarta and launch a digital bank in the country – one of the world’s fastest growing digital economies. fastest in Asia.

WeLab, backed by Allianz (ALVG.DE) and billionaire Li Ka-Shing’s TOM Group (2383.HK), said it had secured $ 240 million from existing and new investors to help fund the transaction.

A group led by WeLab has already acquired 24% of PT Bank Jasa Jakarta and will buy the remaining majority stake after regulatory approvals, the Hong Kong company added.

It will launch a digital bank in the second half of 2022 in Indonesia – a country where only 52% of households have access to a bank account while most have access to internet-enabled cellphones, according to a World Bank report.

With Indonesia’s internet economy booming, regional lenders DBS Group (DBSM.SI) and United Overseas Bank (UOBH.SI) have launched digital offerings, while GoTo, the country’s leading tech company, has invested in Bank Jago (ARTO.JK).

PT Bank Jasa Jakarta has assets worth 6.6 trillion rupees ($ 457.92 million), including 2.6 trillion rupees in loans and 4.9 trillion rupees in total savings, according to its financial report no. audited at the end of the third quarter.

Indonesia’s digital bank will be WeLab’s second in Asia after its official launch in Hong Kong in 2020, where the company says it now has more than 150,000 customers.

($ 1 = 14,413 rupees)

Reporting by Nikhil Kurian Nainan, additional reporting by Gayatri Suroyo in Jakarta; Editing by Jacqueline Wong

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