Shinhan Bank officially launches its Indonesian operations

South Korea’s Shinhan Bank has embarked on operations in Indonesia via Shinhan Bank Indonesia, a move that is expected to help the Korean bank expand its presence not only in the Southeast Asian country but also across Asia.

Shinhan Bank said on Tuesday it officially launched Shinhan Bank Indonesia, which was renamed from Bank Metro Express (BME), a Jakarta-based bank with 19 branches that was acquired by the Korean bank last year. Shinhan Bank Indonesia is newly headquartered in the International Financial Center Tower 2 in Jakarta, the capital city of Indonesia.

The kickoff of Shinhan Bank Indonesia’s operations follows a series of launches of the Korean bank’s overseas operations in other Asian countries such as Japan, China and Vietnam in recent years. The latest overseas operation is expected to help Shinhan Bank achieve its ambitious goal to build an extensive financial network across Asia.

The Korean bank also aims to merge Shinhan Bank Indonesia with Centratama Nasional Bank (CNB), another Indonesian bank that it took over last December, later this year. The Indonesian bank has 41 branches across Surabaya, the second biggest city in Indonesia, and other cities in Java Island.

Once the merger is complete, the Korean bank would have 60 networks across Indonesia, the world’s fourth most populous country. It currently has 141 overseas networks across 19 countries. It would also be the first in the Korean banking industry to purchase two offshore banks and merge them.

Cho Yong-byung, the president of Shinhan Bank said at the launching ceremony on Tuesday that he expects the merger of the two Indonesian banks would set a new milestone in Indonesia.