BRI in Hery Gunardi's First Year: CASA Accelerates, Profitability Thickens
Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia — Exactly one year after being led by Hery Gunardi, PT Bank Rakyat Indonesia (Persero) Tbk is increasingly sharp. The combination of increasingly optimal growth engines has enabled the bank to maintain a balance between prudence and expansion.
This combination reflects a more measured approach to driving growth, in line with management’s focus on sustainable business amid global economic dynamics.
Throughout the first quarter of 2026, BRI recorded solid credit growth, supported by the strengthening of cheap funds (CASA) and improvements in the cost of funds structure. As a result, the bank’s profitability has thickened.
For information, BRI entered a new leadership phase that became the starting point for accelerating the company’s transformation at the beginning of 2025. In this regard, Hery Gunardi was officially appointed as BRI’s president director through the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders (AGMS) on 24 March 2025.
With a track record of more than 34 years in the national banking industry, Hery is known as a multidimensional banker who has been directly involved in various strategic agendas. From the establishment of Bank Mandiri (1998-1999) to becoming a key decision-maker at that state-owned bank.
Hery stated that the success in bringing BRI’s performance to grow over the past year is inseparable from the transformation strategy implemented in a disciplined manner and focused on cheap funds.
“In the midst of challenging dynamics, BRI has been able to maintain healthy growth through serious and prudent transformation,” he said during the Q1 2026 performance presentation on Thursday (30/1/2026).
As of the end of March 2026, BRI’s total third-party funds (DPK) reached Rp1,555 trillion, or grew 9.4% year-on-year (yoy). This growth was supported by the performance of cheap funds (CASA), which is increasingly dominant.
BRI’s CASA was recorded at Rp1,058.6 trillion, growing 13.2% yoy. This increase reflects the company’s success in strengthening the base of cheap funds, which is key to cost of funds efficiency amid liquidity competition in the banking industry.
Director of Network & Retail Funding Aquarius Rudiantoro explained that digital channels have become one of the main drivers of cheap funds accumulation.
The number of BRImo super app users has reached 47.8 million, or grown 18.6%, with transaction volume breaking through Rp2,042.2 trillion or up 29.4% yoy. On the other hand, QRIS-based transactions also surged 76% with transaction volume reaching thousands of trillions of rupiah.
In addition, up to Q1 2026, the number of BRILink agents has exceeded 1.18 million agents spread across more than 66,000 villages, reaching around 80% of Indonesia’s territory.
From this network, transaction volume reached Rp420 trillion, with an average daily CASA balance of agents around Rp30 trillion.
On the other hand, the strengthening of CASA is also supported by an UMKM-based ecosystem approach. Through the LinkUMKM platform, BRI has reached more than 15.5 million business actors, supported by the Desa BRILiaN programme which has nurtured around 5,000 villages and Klasterku Hidupku with more than 43,000 business groups.
This approach not only drives credit disbursement but also binds business actors’ cash flows to remain within the BRI ecosystem.
BRI also strengthens the ultra-micro foundation through the UMi holding which has reached more than 34.2 million customers, with total savings accounts reaching 166.3 million. From this ecosystem, around 1.2 million debtors have successfully upgraded.
In addition, product innovations such as bullion and gold savings further enrich the ecosystem, with total gold ownership reaching 22 tonnes in the ultra-micro segment.
The combination of digitalisation, wide distribution, and ecosystem integration not only strengthens the funding structure but also drives overall financial performance.
In line with this, BRI’s cost of funds (CoF) showed significant improvement, dropping from 3% to 2.3% in Q1 2026. This decline confirms the effectiveness of the CASA strategy in keeping the funding structure efficient.
This strengthening on the funding side also provides room for increased profitability. BRI’s net interest income (NII) was recorded to grow 11.9% yoy to Rp40.15 trillion.
In addition, efficiency and funding quality also impact profitability ratios. Return on assets (ROA) increased from 2.7% to 2.8%, while return on equity (ROE) rose from 17.1% to 18.4%.
Ultimately, these achievements are reflected in the company’s bottom-line performance. BRI pocketed net profit of Rp15.5 trillion throughout Q1 2026. That acquisition rose 13.74% yoy.
Major Contribution from Subsidiaries
BRI’s business engine is also supported by the stellar performance of subsidiaries. The ultra-micro holding (UMi) is increasingly providing tangible contributions, not only from the financing side but also profitability and ecosystem expansion.
Deputy President Director Viviana Dyah Ayu revealed that the existence of the UMi holding consisting of PT Pegadaian and PT Permodalan Nasional Madani (PNM) drives integrated growth with maintained financing quality.
“Overall, the ultra-micro holding demonstrates synergy as part of the BRIVolution Reignite transformation, while also becoming a new source of growth,” she said.
In terms of performance, subsidiaries in the UMi holding recorded a significant surge in profitability. Pegadaian’s net profit grew around 244.3% to Rp8.4 trillion, while PNM increased 34.8% from Rp845 billion to Rp1.1 trillion in the first three months of this year.
Not only profit, customer expansion and financing disbursement also showed impressive growth with maintained credit quality.
On a consolidated basis, the contribution of subsidiaries to BRI’s profit reached 28.49% up to the end of Q1 2026.
Furthermore, synergy within the UMi holding also strengthens BRI’s role as the national financial inclusion engine. Up to Q1 2026, BRI has disbursed People’s Business Credit (KUR) amounting to Rp47.09 trillion, with the agriculture sector