Bank Mandiri Taspen Educates Public on Identifying Official Banking Products
Purwokerto, Central Java (ANTARA) - Bank Mandiri Taspen has called on media practitioners to recognise the characteristics of official banking products, as part of efforts to improve public financial literacy and stem the proliferation of illegal financial products and bogus investment schemes.
Distribution Head 5 (Central Java-DIY) of Bank Mandiri Taspen, I Putu Agus Sinom Artawan, said in Purwokerto, Banyumas Regency, Central Java, on Friday that he hoped educating the media would widen the dissemination of information on official banking products, so that the public becomes better informed and protected from various modes of fraud in the financial sector.
“We also want to educate the public to understand that every loan application must be tailored to their needs and ability to repay. People must also know that all application processes are carried out in accordance with the applicable rules and procedures,” he said.
According to him, a bank’s official products can be recognised from the clear information provided about the product and the staged mechanism of the loan application process, starting from the customer’s request, submission of supporting documents, verification, credit analysis, through to the bank’s approval.
He said every prospective debtor is required to submit official documents, such as an identity card and family card. After that, the bank independently verifies and analyses the debtor’s data, and carries out a telephone confirmation with the prospective customer to ensure the validity of the application before the loan is approved.
“So there is no application that is disbursed instantly. Everything goes through verification, analysis, and telephone confirmation with the prospective customer,” he said at the Media Gathering Banking Insight 2026 event themed “Distinguishing Official and Illegal Investments Amid the Proliferation of Digital Financial Offers”, organised by PT Kolaborasi Mediapreneur Nusantara/Pikiran Rakyat Media Network (PRMN) in collaboration with Bank Mandiri Taspen.
He said official bank products also come with complete information on requirements, interest rates, tenor, as well as customers’ rights and obligations, explained openly.
On the occasion, Sinom also introduced a number of financing products from Bank Mandiri Taspen, namely the Mantap Pre-Retirement Loan, Mantap Retirement Loan, and Mantap Loan for active employees through cooperation schemes and payroll facilities.
Meanwhile, Dian Purnomo Jati, an academic from Universitas Jenderal Soedirman (Unsoed) Purwokerto, said the public needs adequate financial literacy in order to distinguish official banking products from various investment offers or financial products lacking clear legality.
According to him, the first step in recognising an official bank product is to ensure it comes from a financial services institution that is licensed and supervised by the regulator.
In addition, he said, the public can also use the official channels of the Financial Services Authority (OJK) to verify the legality of the institution and the products on offer.
“Make sure it genuinely comes from the financial institution concerned. Don’t just look at the returns, but also check the legal aspects,” said the lecturer in Financial Management at Unsoed’s Faculty of Economics and Business.
He said the public should also scrutinise the reasonableness of the returns offered.
As a benchmark, he said, commercial bank deposit rates generally range from 2.5 to 4 per cent per year, while deposits at rural credit banks (BPR) are around 5 to 6 per cent per year.
According to him, offers of returns far above this range should be treated with caution.
He reminded the public to apply the 2L principle—legal and logical—before using any financial product.
In this context, legal means ensuring the product comes from a licensed institution, while logical means assessing the reasonableness of the returns and risks.
“If someone offers fantastic returns, don’t believe it straight away. First make sure of its legality and understand the business process. Healthy investments offer logical returns, not promises of guaranteed profit without risk,” he said.
He said official bank products are always accompanied by a transparent process, official documents, and clear agreements.
According to Dian, financial literacy is the main bulwark preventing people from easily falling victim to fraud disguised as investment or illegal financial products.