Infinitium and Artajasa launch B-Secure

• Has 13 partners on board who will integrate B-Secure into their e-payment services
• Bank Indonesia targets for banks to issue 30% of total GPN cards in the first year

B-SECURE, the domestic authentication system for online payments developed jointly by PT Artajasa Pembayaran Elektronis (Artajasa) and PT Infinitium Solutions (Infinitium) was unveiled recently, alongside the announcement of 13 pioneer partners comprising issuing banks, merchants and Payment Gateway (PG) service providers who have committed to integrate B-Secure into their e-payment services.

Of the 13 partners on board, eight are from issuing banks under ATM Bersama network, namely Bank Negara Indonesia (BNI), Bank Syariah Bukopin, Bank Syariah Mandiri, Bank Tabungan Negara (BTN), Bank OCBC NISP, Bank DBS, Bank Bukopin and Bank Papua.

Mimopay, Rumah Zakat, and Padiciti are the three pilot merchant partners while supporting PG partners are Doku and Faspay.

These partners represent key stakeholders within the online payment ecosystem who have shown their vote of confidence in the B-Secure authentication platform.

B-Secure is an end-to-end domestic authentication platform for issuing banks and merchants to process e-commerce transactions, and a complementary infrastructure support to the e-payment ecosystem.

“The announcement of B-Secure is in line with the National Payment Gateway (GPN) initiative in promoting easy and affordable cashless transactions for the public, while enhancing customer protection by securing data for each transaction.

“By providing an authentication platform for domestic transactions that is secure for consumers and banks, B-Secure supports the strengthening of an interconnected e-payments ecosystem that has interoperability and is able to carry out transactions including authorisation, clearing, and settlement. This partnership is to facilitate the e-commerce boom in Indonesia,” said PT Artajasa Pembayaran Elektronis chief executive officer Bayu Hanantasena.

B-Secure is compatible to be incorporated within the existing ATM Bersama framework with 94 bank and non-bank institutions, and potential of over 107 million cardholders in Indonesia.

Infinitium Group of Companies chief executive officer Ho Ching Wee says, “Cardholders with existing GPN accounts do not need to open a separate account or transfer funds into a separate wallet. Instead, they will now be able to use their GPN card online once the issuer banks are on B-Secure. This is a ready market and we have the economies of scale to move the industry due to sheer volume of the captive market share.”

Bayu said that Bank Indonesia (BI) targets to have banks issuing at least 30% of total GPN cards in its first year.

According to Ho, existing debit-card holders are able to use this function through merchants on e-commerce platforms as long as thhe related bank has joined the network.

B-Secure’s domestic authentication proposition is key to equipping all stakeholders in the e-payment ecosystem in preparation for Indonesia’s e-commerce volume growth.

Besides generating new revenue streams for issuing banks through the increased usage of their cards for e-commerce transactions, banks can assure customers that their GPN cards is on par with other Global Scheme cards in terms of security capability for e-commerce and mobile commerce transactions.

Cards are secured with OTP, thereby avoiding unauthorised charges to their bank accounts. They can use their GPN cards in the same way as a Visa or Mastercard.

As for merchants, B-Secure allows them to conduct real-time and secure payments with instant confirmation of approval. This will lead to an increase in sales turnaround and a decreased cost of transactions, along with preventing fraud.

Acquiring banks will also be able to generate new revenue streams for accepting GPN online transactions and process GPN payments securely with real-time authentication and authorisation.

Partnerships and regulations

This collaboration plan was announced back in 2016 and Ho says that the delay in execution was due to the central bank’s new framework for its National Payment Gateway (GPN) and they needed to ensure compliance to address the requirements.

“We adjust our framework to elevate payment gateways by knowing the flow and security concerns. We localise it.”

Ho explained that B-Secure operates in an ‘open loop’ platform which enable the technology to be applied even in non-bank systems.

Bayu added that B-Secure implementation is similar to ATM implementation where big banks will participate later as they need a longer time to make decisions.