Bank Rakyat Indonesia launches country’s first floating bank

Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI) has launched a floating bank to make banking accessible to people residing in remote islands or coastal areas.

The bank which has been named Teras BRI Kapal will currently provide its services to the Thousand Islands regency off north Jakarta. Its services would cover six islands including Pramuka Island, Tidung Island, Kepala Island, Untung Jawa Island, Harapan Island and Panggang Island, reported the Jakarta Post.

The banks plans to introduce additional boats eventually to further expand its services to other remote islands.

BRI president director Asmawi Syam was quoted a saying: “We want to provide services for people in coastal areas who previously did not receive optimum banking services.”

The boat that will comprise 11 staff members including crew, guards and four BRI officers, a teller, a customer service officer and two account officers will provide services including savings, loans and money transfers. It will operate from Monday to Friday.

As per plans, the bank will launch a new floating boat branch every year and will invest $1.11m (£710,872, €1.02m) on each branch.

It also plans to cover areas including Ternate in North Maluku, Bau-bau in Southeast Sulawesi and Tanjung Selor in North Kalimantan in the future.