Partnership With E9pay, BRI Increases Financial Services For PMI In South Korea

CEO E9pay Joen Hyeok Gu and Director of Wholesale and Institutional Business BRI Agus Noorsanto. (Doc. BRI)

JAKARTA - BRI announced the expansion of cooperation in remittance with a well-known fund transfer (PTD) company in South Korea, namely E9pay Company Limited (E9pay Co., Ltd.).

The cooperation that has been started since 2017 in the future will be further expanded, where Indonesian Migrant Workers (PMI) who work in South Korea will have more complete access to all financial services offered by BRI through the E9pay network.

BRI's Director of Wholesale and Institutional Business, Agus Noorsanto, stated that BRI is committed to providing superior services for customers, both in Indonesia and in other countries.

"This collaboration with E9pay will expand the access of PMIs to get the best financial services, starting from preparation for departure, to when they carry out their activities in South Korea. This is one of BRI's strategic steps to create financial inclusion that is beneficial for all BRI customers," Agus said in an official statement, Saturday, May 4.

Agus added that BRI has also provided convenience for money transfer services from South Korea to Indonesia through the integration of BRI's flagship platform, BRIfast Remittance, with the E9pay network.

"PMI in South Korea is also quite familiar in using the digital application E9pay which can be easily accessed from PMI cellphones and used to transfer funds to all BRI work units spread throughout Indonesia," he added.

Based on data from the Indonesian Migrant Workers Protection Agency (BP2MI), in 2023 there were 12,580 PMIs stationed in the South Korean corridor area. This figure grew by 10.4 percent of the number of PMIs stationed in 2022 with 11,269 PMIs.

BP2MI estimates that the number of PMI placements to South Korea in the next few years will continue to increase, one of which is because South Korea is currently experiencing an aging population, resulting in a lack of young workers to drive the economy. This is what is seen as an opportunity for Indonesia by placing many Indonesian Migrant Workers to the destination country of South Korea.

On the other hand, Joen Hyeok Gu as CEO of E9pay said, BRI is one of the strategic partners E9pay has in Indonesia so that the cooperation that has been running so far needs to be improved in order to provide better financial experience to PMI.

"We are always committed to improving financial services for consumers, especially Indonesian citizens who work in South Korea. Through this expansion of cooperation with BRI, we hope that PMIs can have access to comprehensive financial services and are not limited to money transfer services to Indonesia. We hope that this cooperation expansion can run successfully," he explained.

E9pay (E9pay Company Limited) itself is a PTD that carries out application-based cross-border payment transactions with both individual and business users who are members of the Korean Financial Telecommunications & Clearings network, namely payment settlement institutions that regulate the interbank payment network in South Korea.

The company, which was founded in 2007 and headquartered in Seoul, South Korea, is carrying out its main business activities that include outbound remittance, inbound permittance and airline ticketing with a wide network of more than 22 countries in the world. With a wide range, E9pay is the first Fintech company in South Korea to gain Overseas Remittance Business License from South Korea's Ministry of Economy & Finance (MOEF) to facilitate inter-state remittance service transactions by P2P, B2C, C2B, B2B from and to more than 126 countries via mobile phone applications and website platforms.