Bank Central Asia

Indonesian bank

PT Bank Central Asia Tbk, commonly known as Bank Central Asia (BCA) is an Indonesian bank founded on 21 February 1957. Bank Central Asia is the largest private bank in Indonesia with an asset of Rp 1.029,83 trillion (USD 68,5 billion) as of 2022. It is headquarters at BCA Tower in Jakarta. Bank Central Asia (BCA) was founded by Salim Group as “NV Perseroan Dagang Dan Industrie Semarang Knitting Factory". Originally the bank started small however it was expanded by banker and conglomerate Mochtar Riady who took control of the bank. Bank Central Asia expanded rapidly during the 1980s and 90s, BCA works with well known institutions, such as PT Telkom , Citibank, and American Express. The bank was hit hard during the 1997 financial crisis and the subsequent 1998 May Riot. It was in massive debt and as a result it was took over by the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency and sold to another conglomerate group Djarum. Since then BCA has thrived and subsequently, BCA took a major step by going public in the 2000. In 2022, Bank Central Asia was awarded to be the "Best Bank in Indonesia" by Forbes.

Bank Central Asia's beginnings began in 1955, founded as “NV Perseroan Dagang Dan Industrie Semarang Knitting Factory" by businessman Sudono Salim (Lim Sioe Liong). BCA commenced operations on 21 February 1957 with Head Office located in Jakarta. Effective on 2 September 1975 the name of the Bank was changed to PT Bank Central Asia (BCA). BCA strengthens its delivery channels and obtained a license to open as a Foreign Exchange Bank in 1977. Around 1980, BCA aggressively expanded its branch network in line with deregulation of the Indonesian banking sector. BCA developed its information technology capacity, by establishing an online system for its branch office network, and launches new products and services including the Tahapan BCA savings accounts product. In 1990, BCA developed the Automated Teller Machine (ATM) network as an alternative delivery channel. In 1991, BCA installed 50 ATM units in various locations in Jakarta. BCA intensively develops the ATM network and features. BCA works with well known institutions, such as PT Telkom and Citibank, allowing BCA's customers to pay their Telkom phone bill or Citibank credit card bill through BCA ATMs. BCA experienced a panic selling during the 1997 Asian financial crisis. In 1998 BCA became a Bank Take Over (BTO) and was placed under the recapitalization and restructuring program operated by the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA), a Government Institution. In 1999, BCA was fully recapitalized with the Government of Indonesia, through IBRA, assuming ownership of 92.8% of BCA shares in exchange for liquidity support from Bank Indonesia and a swap of related party loans for Government Bonds. In 2000, IBRA divested 22.5% of its BCA shares through an initial public offering, reducing its ownership of BCA to 70.3%. In 2001, in a Secondary Public Offering, 10% of BCA's total shares were made available to the market. IBRA's ownership of BCA decreased to 60.3%. In 2002, Farindo Investment (Mauritius) Limited acquired 51% of BCA's shares through a strategic private placement. In 2004, IBRA divested 1,4% of BCA shares to domestic investors through a private placement. In 2005, the Government of Indonesia through PT Perusahaan Pengelolaan Aset (PPA), the remaining 5.02% of its BCA shares and no longer has share ownership in BCA. BCA strengthens and develops its products and services, especially in electronic banking, by launching Debit BCA, Tunai BCA, KlikBCA internet banking, m BCA mobile banking, and EDCBIZZ. In 2007, BCA became a pioneer in introducing fixed rate mortgage products. BCA launches its stored value card, Flazz Card, and introduced Weekend Banking to maintain its transaction banking leadership. In 2010–2013, BCA entered new lines of business including Sharia banking, motorcycle financing, general insurance and the capital markets business. In 2013, BCA increased its effective ownership from 25% to 100% in its general insurance arm PT Asuransi Umum BCA (formerly PT Central Sejahtera Insurance and also known as BCA Insurance). In 2014–2016, BCA developed MyBCA, a self service digital banking outlet; expanded cash recycling machine based ATM networks; and launched the Sakuku app based electronic wallet. BCA continued developing various methods of payment for online transactions. In 2018 BCA launched a peer to peer transfer feature using QR code technology, applicable on m BCA and Sakuku. BCA completed a 100% share acquisition (directly and indirectly) of PT Bank Royal Indonesia in October 2019. Post acquisition, Bank Royal's business model will transform into a digital based bank, complementing BCA's established digital channels.