Indonesian Unicorn Xendit Invests In Putera Sampoerna’s Bank

Indonesian digital payment unicorn Xendit has become a minority shareholder in Bank Sahabat Sampoerna, a private bank focused on SMEs whose main owners are billionaires Putera Sampoerna and Djoko Susanto.

With the deal, announced on April 21, Xendit will become a technology partner for Bank Sampoerna to develop its digital banking.

“Xendit is proud to support Bank Sampoerna in developing the digital bank infrastructure,” Moses Lo, CEO and cofounder of Xendit said in a statement.

Xendit declined to disclose the amount of investment and number of shares obtained through the deal. Unlisted Bank Sampoerna has been one of the early partners of Xendit since its establishment in 2015, and both cater to the SMEs segment. The two companies will remain independent.

“The support from Xendit will enhance our service capacity, reach, quality, and innovation,” Ali Rukmijah, CEO of Bank Sampoerna said.

Xendit obtained its unicorn status after a $150 million Series C funding led by New York-based investment firm Tiger Global Management in September 2021. Xendit provides a platform that enables clients, at this stage mainly in Indonesia and the Philippines, to receive payments. Virtual accounts and e-wallets are some of the channels that Xendit can accommodate.

Bank Sampoerna disbursed 8.5 trillion rupiah of loans last year, an increase of 3.9% from 2020.

Xendit’s investment will provide at least some of the 950 billion rupiah that Bank Sampoerna needs to increase its core capital of 3 trillion rupiah by the end of this year, as required by Indonesia’s Financial Services Authority (OJK). At the end of 2021, the bank’s core capital was 2.05 trillion rupiah.

The bank, which has 22 branches in 18 Indonesian cities, is controlled by the Sampoerna family through Sampoerna Investama, which holds a 78.48% share, while Djoko Susanto of Alfa Group holds 17.44% through Cakrawala Mulia Prima.

According to Forbes’ ranking of Indonesia’s 50 Richest for 2021, Putera Sampoerna and his family had a net worth of $1.8 billion and ranked no. 25. Djoko Susanto, who ranked no. 22, had a net worth of $1.9 billion.