Digital payments solution for Indonesian building company

Discover how a strategic partnership helped an Indonesian construction company modernise their financial transactions and overcome operational inefficiencies.

March 7, 2025

7 mins

Corporate & investment banking

The construction sector plays a crucial role in Indonesia’s economic development by creating jobs, advancing infrastructure development, and fostering growth, all of which improve the quality of life for the country’s citizens.

Developing housing, office buildings, infrastructure, and industrial facilities remains a key focus for the Indonesian government, with the recognition that sustainable urbanisation is critical to advancing social equality, driving prosperity, and empowering people, particularly the country’s youth.

This is also the view held by ready-mix concrete and aggregates business PT Solusi Bangun Beton (SBB), a subsidiary of PT Solusi Bangun Indonesia Tbk and a member of SIG, the largest building materials company in Southeast Asia. Its mission is not only to build and improve infrastructure, but also to enhance living conditions to help shape a more equitable and prosperous society by delivering sustainable building solutions.

Addressing operational challenges in the construction sector

The company is committed to delivering environmentally conscious products and services, while operating in ways that positively impact society. This includes a responsibility to ensure that the fulfilment process is executed and delivered swiftly, efficiently, and securely.

SBB serves a diverse customer base, from direct consumers like homeowners, to small and medium-sized contractors, and large construction entities including state-owned enterprises. Each of these segments depends heavily on cash transactions.

In the past, reliance on cash created challenges for SBB and its customers in several ways. Customers typically found the manual ordering process tedious, requiring multiple steps that could result in delivery delays. Such orders were prone to errors and customers were unable to track the status of orders, causing frustration. Additionally, a lack of payment options was seen as limiting, especially by younger customers.

Manual order processing at SBB required considerable resources and would become a bottleneck as demand increased, restricting the company’s ability to scale effectively. Given the sheer number of transactions processed daily, payment verification was challenging to manage, leading to inaccuracies in bank reconciliation, sales analysis, and forecasting.

These multiple inefficiencies were proving to be a hindrance in terms of both time and cost. To better manage inefficiencies, SBB’s management took steps to address issues by digitalising the company’s accounts receivables starting in 2022, while also weighing the opportunities and risks associated with upgrading to a new digital payment platform.

Navigating market trends and risks

Back then, trading conditions in Indonesia’s construction industry were favourable for such a transformative project – yet potential pitfalls had to be considered too. On one hand, Indonesia was experiencing steady economic growth, leading to increased demand for infrastructure development. The construction sector was competitive, with many players vying for contracts. This often led to price wars, affecting profit margins and prompting companies to explore operational cost efficiencies.

Then there was the state of digital payments in Indonesia. Adoption of these had been growing, particularly in urban areas, driven by increased digital payment initiatives from the nation’s central bank promoting cashless transactions. This included the use of QR codes, e-wallets and mobile banking solutions.

Simultaneously, there were concerns about data security, including the risks of breaches and cyber-attacks. There was also a possibility that employees and other stakeholders – including customers – would resist the shift to a new digital system, preferring traditional manual processes. What’s more, the likelihood of integration and development challenges was high, as the integration process is typically complex and can lead to temporary operational disruptions. Progress in this area was largely untested by the construction industry in general.

To strengthen its leadership in this space, the new system needed to be user-friendly, secure, and fully integrated with SBB’s back-end technologies and banking systems, among other prerequisites. An enormous task, but one with potential.

The role of partnerships in achieving transformation

SBB carefully evaluated multiple bank partners for the project, ultimately selecting Standard Chartered for its expertise and strong local presence.

The bank already had a strong and trusted relationship with SBB. Prior to embarking on the project, Standard Chartered provided essential services like account management and transaction processing to SBB. SBB had consistently received reliable services from the bank, and because of this track record, the company’s management was comfortable in its selection of Standard Chartered for complex projects.

Past collaborations also provided Standard Chartered with a deep understanding of SBB’s business model, challenges, and objectives, enabling the bank to design solutions tailored to the company’s specific needs.

“SBB’s decision to partner with Standard Chartered on this digitalisation initiative reflects the bank’s expertise, comprehensive service offerings, strong local presence, and commitment to sustainability,” noted Giri Prabowo, Director at SBB. “The foundation of our prior relationship further solidified our choice, ensuring that both parties were aligned and ready for the collaborative effort needed for successful implementation.”

Experience in successfully delivering such projects would prove invaluable for this endeavour. The most complicated component involved integrating the bank’s Straight2Bank Pay system with SAP’s enterprise resource planning software. According to Prabowo, the bank needed to invest substantial time and effort into understanding how both systems worked, and ensuring they communicate smoothly with each other. The bank would then assist with user uptake, by offering training and providing practical guidance. It would also need to ensure that the new accounts receivables system adhered to strict cybersecurity protocols.

The bank met all these requirements and the project was a success. Implementation took less than a year, and the system went live in August 2024.

Streamlining processes for better outcomes

As a result of this partnership, SBB was able to implement a digital payments solution to fully automate its business processes, from order taking, to invoicing, accepting payment, goods dispatch, and reconciliation. The system boosts productivity by enabling real-time processes, offering management immediate access to critical information while reducing delays and errors. Notably, the system also reduces the risk of fraud.

Customers also benefit from a wide range of tailored payment options, enabling smoother and more convenient transactions. This flexibility is aligned with the company’s sustainability goals, allowing them to adapt to market demands and strengthen client relationships.

The new system has already had an impact on the business. Sales processing times have dropped from 48 hours to real-time following customers making payments. SBB has also eliminated the issue of unidentified payments, which used to amount to around IDR$4 billion (over USD$250,000) per month. In addition, the company has reduced various fixed costs, freeing up resources that can be redirected towards other areas of the business.

“This initiative demonstrates SBB’s commitment to innovation and operational improvement, with Standard Chartered playing a pivotal role in enabling this transformation. We are proud to support SBB in its mission to drive sustainable living for future generations and are grateful for the opportunity to contribute to the growth of Indonesia’s infrastructure industry,” says Rino ‘Donny’ Donosepoetro, Cluster CEO, Indonesia and ASEAN Markets (Australia, Brunei and The Philippines). “This landmark project exemplifies how close partnerships can overcome noteworthy challenges – and pave the way for a more efficient and modern financial system in Indonesia.”