Indonesia-based Open Finance service provider Brankas has announced a new feature enabling instant bank account opening as an embedded finance experience on third-party applications. Brankas introduced a multi-bank API that reportedly is the first of its kind in the Asia Pacific region, with an initial launch in Indonesia and the Philippines.

The API can be bundled with Brankas' payment and data solutions to provide fintech experiences to users of any merchant or consumer application. The Account Opening API can be used as part of its broader banking API suite. This integration reportedly allows companies in various industries such as financial management, e-wallets, and brokerages to offer interest-bearing, regulated savings accounts as an integrated feature to their users.

Similarly, HR platforms, ecommerce marketplaces, and lenders can seemingly provide users with savings accounts for collections and disbursements by incorporating this API. Additionally, the Account Opening API could assist small businesses in expanding their customer base by offering banking services to previously unbanked individuals in remote regions. Brankas anticipates that banks and merchants will form partnerships to offer compelling sign-up bonuses, facilitating a rapid and gratifying onboarding experience for consumers and corporate customers.

The company claims that most businesses can complete the onboarding process and commence operations in less than a week. Financial inclusion in Indonesia In Indonesia, over half of the population is considered unbanked, which means they lack access to financial services provided by a bank or similar financial institution. Consequently, they are unable to avail themselves of fundamental financial services, such as loans, credit cards, and interest-bearing savings accounts, the company’s press release states.

According to the Country Manager of Brankas Indonesia, the company, as a licenced financial services provider by Bank Indonesia (BI), recognises the considerable potential for expanding access to modern financial services to the unbanked and underserved populations throughout the region. Brankas' Banking-as-a-Service strategy can reportedly facilitate everyday financial services relevant to various communities, including those involved in fisheries, farming, transportation, accounting, and HRMS. Additionally, the recently launched Account Opening API by Brankas is expected to provide consumers and SME/UMKM access to loans, investments, and a comprehensive range of payment methods.

Brankas’ Account Opening API currently supports account creation for OCBC NISP, Danamon, and BNC in Indonesia. Brankas also offers retail and corporate account creation in the Philippines, powered by Netbank. More about Brankas in 2023 Recently, Brankas announced a partnership with Arab Financial Services to strengthen the open finance infrastructure in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.

In January, Brankas partnered with AI digital identity services provider Element to add fraud detection solutions for Open Finance offerings. Also, that month, the company announced it will double down on its account opening business via its mobile data kiosks across Indonesia. Brankas was a contributor to the Open Banking and Open Finance Report 2022.

We encourage you to download the report to discover what Anik Islam, the company’s Business Development Lead, shared about the Brankas perspective on the Open Finance landscape in Southeast Asia, including trends and relevant use cases. .