Perbanas Proposes Blacklisting Online Gambling and Fraud Perpetrators from Indonesian Banks

The banking industry has proposed the establishment of a national blacklist to cut off banking access for perpetrators of illegal online loans (pinjol), online gambling (judol), and identified fraud.

Nixon LP Napitupul, Vice Chairman of the Indonesian National Banking Association (Perbanas), stated that the banking industry already has a precedent for a national blacklist, specifically for customers who issue bounced cheques or blank giro slips.

According to Nixon, a similar concept could be applied to accounts linked to illegal online lending or online gambling. He suggested that accounts identified by regulators should be immediately placed on a national blacklist and shared across the entire banking sector.

“All accounts related to illegal online lending or online gambling operating in Indonesia that have been identified by Bank Indonesia (BI), the Financial Services Authority (OJK), or the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (PPATK) should be included in a national blacklist, so that we will not open accounts for them,” Nixon said during a working meeting with the P2SK Working Group of the House of Representatives (DPR) in Jakarta on Tuesday.

He explained that the existence of a shared database would assist banks in two simultaneous tasks: closing accounts already identified as problematic and preventing the opening of new accounts by the same parties, ranging from shareholders to company executives.

He cited the existing data-sharing system via the OJK’s SLIK (Credit Information System) as an example, where banks can review credit histories and collectability status before providing financing. “In the same manner, this could be implemented for perpetrators or executives of companies running illegal online lending or online gambling,” he added.

Nixon noted that a uniform database is key to ensuring all banks have access to the same data source, allowing for more effective and standardised supervision across the industry. He also emphasised that regulators must have punitive instruments in place for banks proven to have violated these rules or continued providing access to blacklisted parties. “If a bank commits a violation, they could be penalised by regulators through various instruments, ranging from fines to the re-evaluation of the ‘fit and proper’ status of their management,” he concluded.