Asean banks are using technology to serve locations that are remote or have low population densities, with the latest example being a bank on a boat from PT Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI).
The Indonesian bank has launched a floating bank to provide services to people living on remote islands with little access to banking services.

BRI’s floating bank, Teras BRI Kapal, will first serve the Thousand Islands, and there are plans to introduce more floating banks in Ternate (north Maluku), Bau-bau (south-east Sulawesi) and Tanjung Selor (north Kalimantan).

It will provide services similar to those at a BRI bank branch, such as savings, loans and money transfers, and will have an automatic teller machine (ATM).

Initiatives to reach people without access to banks are not uncommon in the Asean region and IT underpins them. According to Ho Sui-Jon, analyst at IDC Financial Insights in Asia/Pacific, Asean banks are driven either by regulatory or business imperatives to expand their reach to remote and rural areas.

South-east Asian finance companies are adopting cloud technology with more caution than in other regions of the world.

Organisations across the Asean region are using artificial intelligence technologies, with examples in the health and finance sectors.As an emerging economic power bloc, Asean is bracing itself for an influx of cyber crimes as hackers seek lucrative targets.