KONTAN.CO.ID - JAKARTA. South Korean finance firm APRO Financial Co. Ltd has obtained approval from the Financial Services Authority (OJK) to merge with Bank Oke Indonesia and Bank Dinar Indonesia.

The approval came after the firm acquired a stake in Bank Dinar in October last year. The request was submitted last March and received approval on June 25.

APRO Service group, a subsidiary of APRO Financial ,is the fourth Korean lender in Indonesia after KEB Hana Bank, Woori Bank and Shinhan Bank.

After the merger, it will be able to serve clients from the retail, wholesale and small and medium enterprise (SME) sector.

"The [bank] margin for the Korean market is less than 2 percent and [Korea's] economy is slowing down," said Bank Oke president director Lim Cheol Jin.

"Indonesia has a large population and I have high hopes that [the population's] bank usage will also significantly increase."

The Korean financial institution plans to acquire 19 branches of Bank Oke Indonesia across Indonesia, including branches in Jakarta, Bali, Surabaya and Semarang. The bank aims to open 50 more branches in the next three years. 

Editor: Herlina Kartika Dewi