Supported by Ultra Micro Holding Synergy, Siti Julaeha Successfully Develops Business While Managing Household
A simple shop rack witnessed the beginning of a housewife’s business journey, Siti Julaeha in Lebak, Banten. She sold daily necessities while still working, hoping for additional income to support her family.
Over time, thanks to the support of the BRI Group’s ultra micro holding synergy, her business grew to become a mainstay for the surrounding community. It all started with small steps in 2017.
Siti recounted that she started her business with PNM Mekaar with an initial capital of Rp 2 million. At that time, she was still working while running a small sundry shop as additional income. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she had to stop working and focus on continuing her grocery business.
In the midst of difficult conditions, she did not give up; in fact, this is where her business began to develop. “With the support of capital and business mentoring as well as various training from PNM, my shop has grown bigger and my income has become more stable,” she recalled.
Siti explained that BRI’s support was felt very tangibly in her business journey. One of them is through an affordable and easy instalment scheme. Thus, she has room to manage her business cash flow more freely.
In this way, besides fulfilling instalment obligations, she can also rotate her capital back and set aside some business profits for family needs. Business stability began to form and opened opportunities for Siti to continue developing.
Siti’s consistency in running the business and her ability to manage finances caught the attention of PNM Mekaar. Then, she was offered to become a BRILink Agent, an opportunity that brought her business to further development.
According to her, it was initially just an offer but it turned out to be a big opportunity. In her residential area, there happened to be no BRILink Agent yet, so the community’s need for transaction services was very high.
“Seeing that business opportunity, I became even more determined to decide to become a BRILink Agent,” said Siti. This decision became the beginning for her to develop her business in a broader direction.
With a relatively easy process and ongoing mentoring from PNM Mekaar, she began running BRILink Agent services alongside her sundry shop business. As a result, both businesses strengthened each other.
Her sundry shop continued to operate, the BRILink Agent service also became increasingly busy and became a mainstay for the surrounding community in meeting their financial transaction needs.
From the business journey she has undertaken, Siti has now successfully owned a separate shop and house. This achievement reflects business development that not only survives but also grows sustainably.
On a separate occasion, BRI Micro Director Akhmad Purwakajaya said that through BRI’s subsidiary, PNM presents the PNM Mekaar (Nurturing Prosperous Family Economy) programme.
This programme is a solution for empowering underprivileged women who do not yet have access to formal financial services (unbankable) through the provision of unsecured capital access and ongoing business mentoring.
“The synergy of the BRI Group through the Ultra Micro Holding (UMi) is a manifestation of the commitment to expand financial access for the community, especially underprivileged mothers,” said Akhmad in a statement quoted on Wednesday (8/4/2026).
It is recorded that until February 2026, PNM serves 22.9 million ultra micro women customers spread across 60,250 villages throughout Indonesia. More than 1.4 million PNM Mekaar customers have also successfully upgraded to BRI and Pegadaian to develop businesses, expand opportunities, and increase business capacity.
In the same period, in line with BRI’s commitment to creating a sharing economy and driving the local economy, more than 420,000 PNM Mekaar customers have become BRILink Agents who can serve the transaction needs of the surrounding community, while strengthening their role in driving financial inclusion at the community level.