EIGHT years Maskuri has been a BRILink agent in Kalimulya Village, Cilodong, Depok, West Java. During that time, he experienced ups and downs as a financial transaction destination for the local community.
As an extension of the financial services of PT Bank Rakyat Indonesia (Persero) Tbk., Maskuri is very aware that he must understand what he is doing. Moreover, the world of finance might be said to be new for the retiree of the regional public company (Perumda) Drinking Water Provider (PAM) Jaya.
Not only as a means of receiving and giving money, said Maskuri, BRILink agents also play a role in educating basic financial knowledge to the people who are their customers.
“In the beginning, it was a bit difficult to provide understanding to the public, because at that time there was a lack of education, there was a lack of information. So over time, they were able to understand,” he said when visited by Media Indonesia on Thursday (21/ 3).
Maskuri provides socialization and education to the surrounding community. Regarding financial transactions such as sending money, paying monthly bills, depositing money, and withdrawing cash, he gave the understanding that these activities can be carried out at the BRILink Agent Mrs. Nasri, the BRILink agent that Maskuri and his wife own.
Maskuri admitted that his BRILink Agent was first trusted to be a means of financial transactions when he helped a resident make a money transfer. At that time, said Maskuri, the person often carried a stash of cash in his pocket so he wouldn’t lose it.
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“Everywhere he took his money, because he wanted to put it on rent, he was afraid of losing it. So he said he used the money to buy a cow (for his hometown),” he said.
Maskuri then approached the person and provided information that the money would be safer if it was transferred directly to the family in their hometown. The transfer activity finally took place at Maskuri’s BRILink agent.
It didn’t take long following making the transfer, Maskuri asked the person to contact his family to check whether the money had been received or not. “So at that time I asked him to call his family directly to confirm. He was surprised because I might transfer it and his family had already received the money,” explained Maskuri while chuckling.
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After that, Maskuri became increasingly active in spreading information regarding BRILink agents. He uses information through leaflets, letters and word of mouth to make local people aware of the existence and function of BRI’s extension.
In fact, the presence of BRILink Agents does not only increase financial knowledge for Maskuri and the surrounding community. In terms of income, Maskuri also admitted that he was greatly helped and was able to develop a number of businesses such as rice stalls, coconut ice cream, and laundry services.
To get to that point, the road was not easy. The Covid-19 pandemic caused the BRILink Maskuri agent to have no transactions. Moreover, currently the challenges are increasingly difficult due to the proliferation of ATMs around the area, and technology that allows people to make transactions via gadgets.
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However, Maskuri refused to be discouraged. He remains steadfast as a BRILink agent. He believes that the BRILink agent he owns has more value in the eyes of the local community. “That’s our challenge. What I see is that we as BRILink agents are knowledgeable regarding finance, so that we can understand and explain it to people,” explained he, who is also the administrator of the BRILink Agent Community Cooperative throughout Indonesia.
Present Encourages Inclusion
The existence of the BRILink Agent was also appreciated by President Joko Widodo. In the BRI Microfinance Outlook at the beginning of March 2024, the Head of State appreciated the number of BRILink agents which reached 740 thousand. According to him, it might take over people’s financial needs from loan sharks.
Meanwhile, Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani said that MSMEs have a big role in the economy, but many are still not reached by banks. Therefore, he asked BRI to expand access to financing.
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Apart from access, another problem faced by ultra-micro business actors is affordability. He hopes that BRI, through the BRILink Agent, will be able to penetrate even the smallest communities. “I hope that BRI will penetrate through the BRILink Agent and that it doesn’t even need a building to operate, the agent is also identical to the shop owner,” said Sri Mulyani.
BRI President Director Sunarso said that as an effort to reach a wider community in order to encourage financial inclusion, the company has prepared a hybrid banking strategy through the BRILink Agent.
“We are also developing our network, which was previously in the form of branches, but then sometimes people are reluctant to come to the branch, they prefer to come to their neighbors, they want to go to a shop, so our shop is converted into a branch, that’s what we call a BRILink Agent. “And currently BRI has 741 thousand BRILink agents with a transaction volume reaching IDR 1,400 trillion,” he said.
“The BRILink agent is an example of BRI’s transformation strategy to always implement its strategy in line with the concern of national economic development, which is not just growing but also equitable,” concluded Sunarso. (Mir/Z-7)
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