Synpulse launches office in Indonesia, fifth in Asia Pacific

International financial services consultancy Synpulse has establish a new office in Jakarta, the firm’s fifth in Asia Pacific and fourteenth globally. 

“The decision to establish a presence in the dynamic Indonesian market was a logical step in our overall business strategy to develop our business in Asia Pacific,” said Yves Roesti, Managing Partner of the firm’s regional division. 

To date, Synpulse has been serving the Indonesia market – local Indonesian clients and the domestic divisions of multinational clients – with fly-in teams from its other offices in the region – Singapore, Hong Kong, Sydney and Manila. But a growing client base, combined with several rapidly unfolding opportunities in the Indonesian financial services market earmarked by the firm, incited Synpulse’s leadership to invest in an on the ground presence. 

According to an assessment by the firm, Indonesia currently has the largest unbanked population in ASEAN, providing banks and challenger players with an untapped opportunity to grow their offerings. Meanwhile, similar to seen in other markets, the emergence of a wide-ranging number of trends including changing consumer behaviour, mounting regulation, growing competition from fintechs and bigtechs and digitisation of operations is forcing banks to revamp their business and operating models, or else risk being overtaken by more innovative rivals.

“The unprecedented change facing Indonesia’s banking sector makes it an ideal market for Synpulse’s expansion,” said Roesti. Mirroring its regional offerings, the new Indonesian office will support clients along the entire value chain; from the development of strategies and the execution of plans, to technical implementation and change management.

The firm will bring subject matter expertise and best practice insights gained in other key financial services hubs such as Singapore and Hong Kong, but also London, New York and Zurich, to the local market. 

While the banking sector will be the core area of focus, Synpulse also works for other players in the financial services ecosystem, including insurers, asset and wealth managers [the firm was recently named one of Asia’s top wealth consultancies and fintechs. Roesti: “Our Indonesian office enables us to provide our domestic clients with localised services tailored to their needs.” 

Synpulse has picked the nation’s capital Jakarta as its base, and has installed a launching team to build out the operation.