In 1998 Lippo Bank introduced internet banking; that same year Bank Internasional Indonesia launched internet for its customers. Bank Central Asia (BCA) soft launched KlikBCA (Internet Banking BCA) in August 17, 2000 and officially launched it in March 2001.
When introducing internet banking for Consumer Banking in Indonesia, Stephen Liestyo, BCA Senior General Manager knew that he had to choose the right strategy as other local banks that allocated extensive programs to educate customers about using internet banking did not attain substantial immediate results. Several options and solutions were discussed extensively among the steering committee team before launching KlikBCA. One of the options chosen was to use the same ATM screen in the KlikBCA. Replicating the ATM screen and features into KlikBCA was a critical first step. The team also decided to add more features, such as a message feature in KlikBCA in the next step of KlikBCA’s development. Individual customers increased from 29,000 customers during the first launch to 217,653 customers at the end of 2001. Stephen Liestyo asked his team to formulate the strategy that could prepare KlikBCA to go world wide in order to strengthen BCA position as the best transaction bank.
On one bright afternoon on May 31, 2007 at 3:00 pm, a member of Case Writing Team received an SMS sent by Stephen Liestyo, Senior General Manager of Consumer Banking BCA. The content of the SMS was “Sorry, from June 6 – 13, 2007, I will be in Shanghai to receive an award from The Asian Banker”. BCA was named as “The Best Retail Bank in Indonesia in 2006 at Asian Banker Excellence in Retail Financial Awards. Asian Banker assessed over 140 financial institutions in 22 countries throughout Asia Pacific. This SMS reply confirmed the need for further discussion on internet banking.
On one side, Case Writer Team at Binus Case Center should wait for his presence and reschedule the meeting after Liestyo’s return from Shanghai. On the other side, this news encouraged team to develop further Klik BCA case. Stephen Liestyo confirmed that Asian Banker Award named BCA as “The Best Retail Bank” for four consecutive years started in 2003.
According to Eric Berliner in Asian Banker assessment, one of BCA’s strengths was its well developed automatic transaction network. ”BCA utilized a solid infrastructure to support bank operation in order to maintain its position as the transaction bank of choice in Indonesia”.. This solid infrastructure helped BCA generate more profits in 2006 than its competitors. With the best infrastructure, BCA became the most efficient, reliable, innovative and profitable bank in Indonesia.
“Apa pun makanannya, minumnya Teh Botol Sosro”, (Any food you eat, the beverage is Teh Botol Sosro), it was SOSRO’s tag line appeared in every SOSRO advertising, in television or printed media. Mr. Sosrojoyo’s dream happened now where he wanted everybody to enjoy the delicious smell and taste of Sosro tea. Now everywhere in Indonesia, in every small kiosk from small village to big city we could see the product of Sosro tea.
Of course this success did not happen in one night. It was a long journey since Sosro built the kingdom of tea, facing lots of challenge and obstacles. It was in 2006, when Mr. Sosrojoyo sat in his office, reflecting the long journey the family went through. It seemed to him the nowadays business situation had changed, the coming of new player in bottled beverage made him re-thinking about Sosro’s competitive advantage. He had to reformulate Sosro’s competency in a way so that they could answer the challenge of competitor.