CIMB Niaga offers branchless banking with OCTO Mobile

INTERVIEW CIMB Niaga offers branchless banking with OCTO Mobile

The app serves 2.7m users and sees a 130.5% increase in financial transactions annually.

With Indonesia’s vast geographical area, information dissemination and banking infrastructure are still focused on big cities. This encourages the banking industry to launch digital banking that can be accessed from anywhere, even on the outskirts.

Based on the results of the National Financial Literacy and Inclusion Survey, financial inclusion in terms of accessibility of financial services and products reached 83.60% in Indonesia’s urban areas, whilst only showing 68.49% in rural areas. CIMB Niaga clearly saw this trend of digital banking opportunity in the country and updated its offerings with new and improved features.

Asian Banking & Finance spoke to the President Director of CIMB Niaga, Lani Darmawan, to learn about the current trends and challenges faced by banks in Indonesia. She also discussed CIMB Niaga’s strategies in relation to the industry’s banking demands.

What are the current trends in the banking industry and how does CIMB Niaga respond to this trend?

The current trend is the emergence of a lot of digital banking. But what becomes our note is in terms of its unique selling point. Long before the boom of the trend, since 2017, CIMB Niaga has prepared itself to always focus on developing products and digital access.

When the pandemic came, we were ready to serve the needs of customers who are more dependent on digital services. Of course, there are other digital banks appearing, but in terms of features, we are very complete. For example, we have various products for transactions such as payments using QRIS for QR scan with several sources of funds including savings, credit cards, rekening ponsel (mobile accounts), and cardless payments.

We also have the most complete investment products such as mutual funds or reksa dana, bonds, rupiah deposits, foreign exchange, insurance, and term savings. We provide loan products such as credit card lists, three months fixed instalments with interest rates of 0%, personal loan to cash withdrawal from credit card limit.

The key is only one—we present features that are relevant to the needs of customers in OCTO Mobile. We always update the display so it is easier for customers to use and enhance our security technology so that it provides more security for digital transactions.

What problems are people still experiencing in accessing services of their banking system in the midst of current banking digitalisation and how does OCTO Mobile solve these problems?

The vast geographical area of Indonesia, so that the dissemination of information as well as infrastructure is still focused on a few big cities. However, with OCTO Mobile,

OCTO Mobile is one of CIMB Niaga’s strategies to provide a convenient and safe digital banking experience for customers (Photo: Lani Darmawan, President Director, CIMB Niaga)

OCTO Mobile puts forward advanced technology without forgetting the human aspect

we have a savings account opening feature, so it is no longer a problem for cities that we have not yet reached by branch offices. Because now customers can open savings accounts and transactions banking from anywhere, as long as the place has an internet signal.

Education is also an important thing, specifically how easy and safe it is to transact through digital channels as long as customers follow the instructions from the bank.

What kind of experience for customers does CIMB Niaga want to build through OCTO Mobile?

OCTO Mobile is one of CIMB Niaga’s strategies to provide a convenient and safe digital banking experience for customers. CIMB Niaga’s customers from various segments can fulfill their banking needs more easily and seamlessly via smartphones from anywhere and anytime without having to come to the branch office.

OCTO Mobile puts forward advanced technology without forgetting the human aspect. We look at what aspects are relevant to customer needs, when they need it, and what is needed in the future. So that our strategy is more customer centric. One of the approaches taken by OCTO Mobile is to build a strong emotional bond rather than just being transactional.

Thus, OCTO Mobile is known as a digital product that transforms daily financial needs. For example, customers

no longer need to take cash or cards from their wallets for transactions because everything is cashless and cardless. Through OCTO Mobile, we also want to continue to build customer awareness of sustainability. One of the ways is by providing customers with access to paperless e-statements or account mutation records in the form of digital copies. This solution is in line with CIMB Niaga’s commitment to support the implementation of sustainable development goals, including reducing the carbon footprint.

What can we find in the OCTO Mobile app? What are the main features that CIMB Niaga wants to highlight in OCTO Mobile and why?

OCTO Mobile is a super app, an all-in-one application that can be accessed anywhere, everywhere. Customers can do various banking activities because OCTO Mobile has a lot of features, such as saving money feature, where customers can open their first CIMB Niaga savings account or other CIMB Niaga savings digitally. When the customer already has their account, they can do savings or pay a deposit via OCTO Mobile. Because the process of opening a savings account is fast, customers can immediately enjoy various benefits without having to wait for an ATM/Debit card to be issued to them. Customers also can open their account into 11 foreign currencies.

We also provide complete investment features such as: mutual funds, bonds, savings and deposits starting from IDR100 thousand. This is also managed by 11 Investment Managers both local and multinational.

In addition, there are various transactions. Customers can perform domestic and international transfers, bill payments, top-up credit and data packet for phone, top-up for e-wallet, electricity bill, as well QR payment with QRIS. Customers can get this from several sources of funds including savings, credit cards, rekening ponsel (mobile accounts), Poin Xtra, and virtual card number.

For customers who want to withdraw cash but forget to bring their ATM/Debit card, there is no need to worry because OCTO Mobile has a cardless withdraw cash. With this feature, customers can withdraw cash via mobile phones at all CIMB Niaga ATMs, Cash Deposit Machines, or Indomaret outlets, one of the leading minimarket chains in Indonesia. Through the use of the cardless feature, customers also contribute to reducing the use of plastic cards, in line with CIMB Niaga’s initiatives to support the SDGs.

Next feature is loan products. Customers can enjoy credit card registration, personal loan, and cashplus. In addition, customers can also change credit card transactions into installments for as long as three, six, and 12 months.

In addition, there are features that provide several options for insurance purchase such as: life, health, travel, and theft insurance.

The next feature is services, where customers can update their data, block and unblock credit/debit cards, PIN request/ reset, and see Poin Xtra, a feature that allows customers to earn and redeem points when shopping at various food and electronic merchants. In addition, customers can also use the features on OCTO Mobile to purchase airline tickets.

OCTO Mobile is a super app, all-in-one platform that can be accessed anywhere, everywhere (Photo from BranchlessBanking.CIMBNiaga.co.id)

Through OCTO Mobile, we also want to continue to build customer awareness of sustainability

What is the ease and speed of access provided through OCTO Mobile and what does CIMB Niaga have to be able to provide that?

OCTO Mobile provides transactions that are very easy and fast for the customers. We are very focused on providing a good user interface and user experience to customers. This is proven by the value given by customers in the AppStore which is 4.9 out of a scale of 5. We also always update the application system.

How does CIMB Niaga provide and guarantee data security of the customer?

The bank is a highly regulated business that is monitored directly by the regulator such as the Financial Services Authority and Bank Indonesia. Therefore, for us, secure customer data is one of the top priorities. We also always check and audits our systems to always meet standards of high security periodically. In addition, we also ensure compliance with regulations and those safety signs.

How many OCTO Mobile users and how many transactions have been made so far through the app?

As of 30 June 2022, the number of OCTO Mobile users has reached 2.7 million. It reached 55 million transactions—an increase of 130.5% year-on-year.

So far, how did customers respond to their experience using OCTO Mobile? What still needs to be improved?

We see that customers are enthusiastic and happy using OCTO Mobile. Proven by an increase in the number of transactions by 105% when comparing year-to-date 2021 with year-to-date 2022.

In line with campaign Anda #YangUtama or ‘#YouMatter’ that we just launched, we are continuing strives to provide continuous innovation and best customer service experience which provides added value for all customers.

We want customers to be able to do digital banking transactions anytime and anywhere. We also regularly conduct customer surveys to ensure OCTO Mobile is always easy to use and also safe.

What is CIMB Niaga’s target in 2022 onwards through the super app OCTO Mobile?

We want to be a bank that can provide the best digital transaction services through complete features in OCTO Mobile. So that it can become a partner for customers in achieving their dreams without the limits of time and place. This is in line with CIMB Niaga’s brand promise #KejarMimpi (Pursue Dreams), because through OCTO Mobile we also want to make it easier for customers to stay productive and be more successful in pursuing and make their dream come true.