Credit Bureau Indonesia and Korea Credit Bureau Partner to Expand Financial Access for Migrant Workers

JAKARTA - Indonesia's largest credit bureau, PT Credit Bureau Indonesia (CBI) and South Korea's leading credit bureau, Korea Credit Bureau Co., Ltd. (KCB), have officially signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to establish a partnership in credit information services.

Under this partnership, Indonesian diaspora who are studying and working in South Korea will be able to use their credit information from CBI to open bank loan accounts, apply for credit cards, use remittance and other financial services when living in South Korea. Similarly, Korean diaspora wishing to use financial services in Indonesia may be able to leverage their Korean credit histories with KCB. The move aims to facilitate smoother financial transactions for residents of both countries.

According to latest 2025 data from Korean immigration services, over 60,000 Indonesians study and work in Korea. Indonesians make up the sixth largest group of registered foreigners in Korea. Conversely, more than 26,300 Korean citizens live and work in Indonesia.

Diaspora often struggle to access financial and credit services because they lack documented credit histories in the countries where they live and work. The CBI–KCB collaboration aims to address this gap through a secure, regulation-compliant framework that safeguards personal data in both countries, enabling a more inclusive and regionally connected financial ecosystem.

“This initiative aligns closely with our mission to expand access to financial services for underserved segments such as migrant workers, who play a critical role in supporting Indonesia’s economy and their families back home. By enabling Indonesians in Korea and Koreans in Indonesia to leverage their credit histories, we aim to promote more inclusive, secure and data-driven financial access while contributing to Indonesia’s broader digital transformation agenda in the regional financial ecosystem,” said Anton K. Adiwibowo, President Director of CBI.

"Accessing reliable and trusted  credit information services is critical to unlocking financial opportunities for thousands of individuals in both countries. The collaboration with CBI is a significant step toward our vision of creating an integrated credit information service network in Asia, supporting inclusive and sustainable economic growth in the region," said Jongsup Hwang, CEO of KCB.

The strategic partnership reflects growing demand from financial institutions in Indonesia and the region for fast, reliable, and up-to-date credit information for real-time credit decisioning. As Indonesia’s largest credit bureau by volume, CBI modernized its core infrastructure in 2025, introducing private deployment models and dual-active servers to eliminate downtime, enhance resilience, and deliver sub-second API response times.