This inauguration marks an important milestone in the journey of Pegadaian, a subsidiary of BRI (BRI Group), which is part of the Ultra Micro Holding along with Permodalan Nasional Madani (PNM), with BRI as the parent company. Meanwhile, BSI is also associated with BRI, as BRI holds a 15% share in BSI.
Pegadaian is now able to serve the gold banking business (bullion services), which includes gold savings, gold financing/loans, gold deposits, and gold trading.
The inauguration was symbolized by President Prabowo Subianto placing a gold bar into a treasure box. "In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful, today, Wednesday, February 26, 2025, I, Prabowo Subianto, President of the Republic of Indonesia, hereby inaugurate the Pegadaian Gold Bank Service and Bank Syariah Indonesia," said President Prabowo Subianto.
President Prabowo Subianto hopes that the presence of the gold bank will increase Indonesia's GDP by around IDR 245 trillion, create 1.8 million new jobs, strengthen foreign exchange reserves, and help save national foreign exchange by managing gold domestically from upstream to downstream.
The inauguration event was attended by Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto, Minister of State-Owned Enterprises Erick Thohir, Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani Indrawati, Minister of Investment and Downstreaming as well as Head of Danantara Rosan Perkasa Roeslani, Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Bahlil Lahadalia, Minister of State Secretary Prasetyo Hadi, Commander of the Indonesian National Armed Forces Agus Subiyanto, Chief of Police Listyo Sigit Prabowo, Cabinet Secretary Teddy Indra Jaya, Governor of Bank Indonesia Perry Warjiyo, President Director of BRI Sunarso, President Director of Pegadaian Damar Latri Setiawan, and President Director of BSI Hery Gunardi.
In his report, Minister of SOEs Erick Thohir said that the establishment of the bullion bank is an extraordinary moment in Indonesia's history. Erick stated that the bullion bank will tap into the potential of 1,800 tons of gold currently held by the public.
Erick Thohir also mentioned that the services and products offered will be expanded, including gold savings and gold pawning. According to him, this will make it easier for the public to become part of the national gold trading industry. "As mentioned earlier, there will be gold deposits, gold financing, gold storage, and of course direct gold trading," explained Erick.
Lastly, Erick emphasized that through the bullion bank, the Ministry of SOEs is working to realize the Asta Cita vision advocated by President Prabowo Subianto to achieve 8% economic growth by promoting financial inclusion and encouraging equitable prosperity for all Indonesian citizens.
BRI President Director Sunarso revealed that BRI is optimistic that the presence of the gold bank will strengthen the national economic foundation. “BRI, as the parent company of the ultra-micro holding, which includes Pegadaian and PNM, is fully committed to supporting the success of the gold bank program,” said Sunarso.
Sunarso explained that BRI has developed several strategies to support Pegadaian in running its gold banking business, including: First, Training, which involves educating business profile mastery in the gold ecosystem for RM Bullion. Second, Pipeline, which includes providing a pipeline of potential bullion customers from BRI's managed data and leveraging data analytics. Third, upstream ecosystem synergy, by orchestrating corporate MoUs with gold ecosystem partners (MIND ID, PT Freeport, Amman) and Pegadaian. Fourth, funding, which includes financing syndication (credit lines, bank guarantees) for bullion. Fifth, vaulting, which utilizes BRI’s assets (offices, vaults, SDB) to expand bullion service facilities and other synergies including the use of products (Britama, Simpedes, BRImo, Qlola) and cross-selling by marketers.
Pegadaian President Director Damar Latri Setiawan expressed optimism that the Gold Bank would accelerate the national economy. “Alhamdulillah, the Pegadaian Gold Bank has officially been inaugurated by the President. This is a great honor for us, as we are not only pioneers of the Gold Bank but also making history by supporting Asta Cita for Indonesia's economic advancement through downstreaming to increase domestic competitiveness,” said Damar.
In 2024, Pegadaian's gold business management reached 90 tons, consisting of Gold Pawning, Gold Installments, and Gold Savings. Meanwhile, Pegadaian's gold sales amounted to 9 tons, through Gold Installments and Gold Savings, representing a 35% increase compared to the previous year.
“Gold Bank will become a new growth source for Pegadaian, with the potential to increase profits by 13% in 2025, with a total Gold Deposit Balance of 12 tons,” added Damar.
As is well known, BRI, along with Pegadaian and PNM, has been part of the Ultra Micro Holding since September 13, 2021. The Ultra Micro Holding (UMi) was established with the goal of providing complete, integrated financial services to meet the needs of businesses, especially in the Ultra Micro (UMi) segment.
Since its establishment in 2021, by the end of December 2024, the Ultra Micro Holding has expanded its services through 1,032 Ultra Micro Service Centers (Senyum) outlets across Indonesia. The Holding has served more than 183 million deposit customers and 35.9 million loan customers, with a credit distribution of IDR 626.6 trillion.
BRI itself has launched a Gold Investment feature on its super app BRImo, allowing users to start investing in gold with affordable amounts, starting from IDR 10,000. Since its launch in February 2024, the Gold Investment feature on BRImo has recorded a transaction volume of IDR 279.8 billion as of December 2024.
“Through the Gold Bank, BRI Group is optimistic that it can contribute to accelerating national economic growth. By providing broader access to gold investment, the public will be encouraged to optimize their assets, thus strengthening economic resilience and financial inclusion in Indonesia,” concluded Sunarso.