Castrol signs pact with BRI to help Indonesian distributors

The Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in cash problems for many small and medium enterprises. PT Castrol Indonesia, the Indonesian arm of global lubricant marketer Castrol, has come up with a solution to help its lubricants distributors in Indonesia.

PT Bank Rakyat Indonesia (Persero) Tbk. or BRI is collaborating with PT Castrol Indonesia to facilitate the company’s transactions using BRI’s Corporate Billing Management, Distributor Financing BRI Distribution and Outlet Financing services.

The collaboration was initiated through the signing of the Banking Services Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Agus Noorsanto, director of Institutional and Wholesale Business BRI; Arif Lukas Darmawan, director of PT Castrol Indonesia; and Augustnine Adrianto, Director of PT Castrol Indonesia, on September 1, 2022 in Jakarta, Indonesia. The Distributor Financing Cooperation Agreement was also signed on this occasion.

As part of the agreement, BRI will support transactions in PT Castrol Indonesia’s business ecosystem, especially MSME players. “We hope PT Castrol Indonesia and its business ecosystem can benefit from BRI’s Distribution Financing, Outlet Financing, and banking transaction management facilities. We continue to meet world-class standards to fulfill the banking needs of multinational corporations,” said Agus.

The agreement consists of the use of credit and banking services specifically intended for PT Castrol Indonesia’s distributors and outlets. The solutions offered are Distributor Financing and Outlet Financing based on microfinance to optimize business capacity while increasing sales volume, and financial management effectiveness and efficiency.

The collaboration facilitates efficient management of financial transactions and ensures timely receipt of payments through integrated systems. BRI’s Cash Management Platform (BRICaMS) and Corporate Billing Management (BRICBM) provide flexibility to PT Castrol Indonesia and its distributors to make transactions anywhere and anytime.

“PT. Castrol Indonesia is constantly innovating to find the best solutions for customers. We believe that as our customers grow, our company will also grow. As a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, cash problems and credit risk have increased for our distribution partners. We believe that our collaboration with BRI will help us come up with solutions to overcome this problem,” said Nitin Mengi, the Castrol Asia Pacific Management of PT Castrol Indonesia.

“This is a new step to improve financial services for our partners in Indonesia. This collaboration is expected to make it easier for Castrol’s distributors and outlets to do business in Indonesia. In the end, we expect company growth from this partnership,” said Arif.

Castrol first entered the Indonesian market in 1971. Then, in 1998 PT Castrol Indonesia was established to handle the Castrol lubricant oil marketing throughout the country. The product brands of lubricant oil marketed are: Castrol Power 1 and Castrol Activ for motorcycles, and Castrol Edge, Castrol Magnatec and Castrol GTX for passenger cars. Most of these lubricant products are manufactured at Castrol’s world-class, fully automated 80,000 metric tonne per annum lube oil blending plant in Merak, Banten.