How far can you go for financial inclusion – an Indonesian bank launches ‘floating bank’ and soon will become the first bank in the world to have its own satellite

State-owned lender Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI) launched its first ever “floating bank” in a bid to provide banking access to people living in coastal areas and on remote islands, which have 7,948 residents consisting of fishermen, traders and civil servants, according to the JakartaPost.com.

The on-boat banking services, or Teras BRI Kapal, will initially serve people in Thousand Islands regency, off North Jakarta. Later, similar boats will serve customers on other remote islands.

“We want to provide services for people in coastal areas who previously did not receive optimum banking services,” BRI president director Asmawi Syam said on Tuesday.

The boat will be manned by 11 staff including crew, guards and four BRI officers: a teller, a customer service officer and two account officers. It will operate from Monday to Friday. The floating bank will provide all essential services, similar to other BRI branches, such as savings, loans and money transfers.

Asmawi added that the service complemented the bank’s other services such as Teras Keliling which provides mobile banking from cars.

BRI would invest Rp 15 billion (US$1.11 million) for each boat and aimed to launch one additional vessel every year, said BRI vice president director Sunarso.

“We are looking at the eastern part of Indonesia to identify which areas need banking services the most,” Sunarso said.

He said the new service was not merely for commercial purposes, but also to develop the economic potential of various areas, aided by banking services.

“This is also a matter of a social issue, human development. The people need to be educated so they can have better financial literacy,” he said.

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, who also attended the launch, urged other banks to invest in services for rural areas.

“The government will keep on supporting breakthroughs from the banking sector to reach people on islands, as this would also support the growth of the local shipping industry,” he said.

To support the service, BRI is on track to launch its own satellite at the Guiana Space Center in Kourou, French Guiana, in June next year.

The satellite, which is planned to be named BRIsat and will cost about $250 million, would make BRI the first bank in the world to have its own satellite.

In the first half of the year, BRI remained the most profitable bank in Indonesia, posting Rp 11.86 trillion in net profits, 1.16 percent higher than Rp 11.72 trillion it pocketed last year amid a slowing economy.