SINGAPORE - The Covid-19 pandemic has propelled contactless and cashless transactions in Indonesia at warp speed, paving the way for virtual banks which will be a game changer for millions of people in the country without bank accounts.
Fintech has boomed in recent years, providing more streamlined and efficient financial services and faster onboarding process. The pandemic has led to even more growth particularly in mobile payments and peer-to-peer lending, analysts say.
Like elsewhere in the world, Indonesians have switched to digital payment methods to minimise face-to-face interactions and trips to physical banks. Those who have been laid off are taking loans from peer-to-peer lending platforms, which offer lower interest rates and more flexible terms than traditional banks.
By Park Jae-hyuk
Yulchon, one of the largest law firms in Korea, has come under the spotlight after KB Kookmin Bank was embroiled in a 1.6 trillion won ($1.4 billion) lawsuit in Indonesia over its acquisition of Bukopin Bank, which had been completed last August in accordance with the Korean law firm s advice.
The outcome of the latest litigation, which remains unclear at this moment, appears set to sway the reputation of Yulchon, which has aggressively helped Korean banks with cross-border acquisitions in the Southeast Asian country, including state-run Korea Development Bank s takeover of Tifa Finance last September.
When KB Kookmin was trying to take over Bukopin last year, the law firm was known as a hidden force by plotting strategies for dealing with the Indonesian bank s largest shareholder, helping the Korean bank obtain a license from financial authorities in both countries, structuring the transaction, performing due diligence and drafting the purchase agreement.