<article>Southeast Asia&#8217;s largest lender, <a href="https://www.dealstreetasia.com/?s=DBS+Bank">DBS Bank</a> says it is &#8216;very open&#8217; to pursuing a strategic investment in Indonesian ride-hailing unicorn, <a href="https://www.dealstreetasia.com/?s=go-jek">Go-Jek</a>.</article>

Southeast Asia&#8217;s largest lender, <a href="https://www.dealstreetasia.com/?s=DBS+Bank">DBS Bank</a> says it is &#8216;very open&#8217; to pursuing a strategic investment in Indonesian ride-hailing unicorn, <a href="https://www.dealstreetasia.com/?s=go-jek">Go-Jek</a>.
Shee Tse Koon, Managing Director &amp; Head for Group Strategy &amp; Planning at DBS Bank, told DEALSTREETASIA that he could not comment on commercial details, but said that the bank has always been open to pursuing such investments.
In May, DBS <a href="https://www.dealstreetasia.com/stories/carousell-rakuten-edbi-97737/">participated in a $85 million Series C round for Carousell</a>, a Singapore-based online classified marketplace. In 2016, DBS also acquired a <a href="https://www.dealstreetasia.com/stories/singaporedbs-acquires-minority-stake-in-financial-ai-startup-kasisto-38862/">minority stake in Kasisto</a>, a US-based financial AI startup.
&#8220;DBS is very open and forward-looking as an entity,&#8221; said Shee. &#8220;When we launched our API portal, it was meant to show our openness to work with (different) people&#8230;However, we are not a private equity or venture firm. Any investments that we make will be from the point of view of co-creating solutions,&#8221; said Shee.
Shee added that DBS&#8217; partnership with Go-Jek will be the &#8216;start of many more potential things&#8217;. Go-Jek launched the beta version of its app in Singapore earlier today, for which DBS is the preferred payments provider. DBS currently has verticals in food, entertainment and utility payments. Its partnership with Go-Jek adds transportation as the latest vertical for the lender.
Shee also stressed that it was crucial for DBS and Go-Jek to get Singapore right, before entering into new areas of collaboration.
&#8220;We have not ironed out the full journey yet. The first step for Go-Jek and us is to make Singapore work. It&#8217;s important because for them, it&#8217;s a new market. For us, it&#8217;s a new vertical. We absolutely want to get this right. If we do, it&#8217;ll be a natural extension of looking to new areas next,&#8221; said Shee.
According to DBS, the bank has about 5 million customers in Singapore, and one of the widest largest debit and credit card circulations in the country.
Also read:
<a style="color: #ff0000;" href="https://www.dealstreetasia.com/stories/indonesias-go-jek-marks-singapore-entry-with-launch-of-beta-app-112114/">Indonesia’s Go-Jek marks Singapore entry with launch of beta app</a>
<a style="color: #ff0000;" href="https://www.dealstreetasia.com/stories/go-jek-grab-payments-110909/">UOB invests in Grab, Go-Jek partners DBS in latest financial services salvo</a>
<a href="https://www.dealstreetasia.com/stories/go-jek-sharehold-111733/">Go-Jek’s structure and shareholding revealed in leaked info</a>

Southeast Asia's largest lender, DBS Bank says it is 'very open' to pursuing a strategic investment in Indonesian ride-hailing unicorn, Go-Jek.

DBS Bank 'very open' to pursuing strategic investment in Go-Jek

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DBS Bank 'very open' to pursuing strategic investment in Go-Jek

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