Indonesia: Grab-Backed Superbank’s Pre-Tax Profit Jumps 376% to IDR 385 Billion
Indonesian digital bank Superbank has posted a pre-tax profit of IDR 385 billion (about US$21 million) for the first nine months of 2026, almost five times what it earned a year earlier. The Grab-linked lender says faster deposit growth and deeper links with partner apps such as Grab and OVO drove the jump, at a time when many digital banks across the region are still trying to break even.
Key facts
- Pre-tax profit for January to September 2026 reached IDR 385 billion, up 376% year on year.
- Customer deposits rose 79.3% to IDR 17.6 trillion, while loans grew 52.6% to IDR 13.8 trillion (about US$770 million).
- Total assets climbed 66.3% to IDR 27.5 trillion, and net interest income rose 41.9% to IDR 1.56 trillion.
- Pre-tax return on equity improved to 6.23% from 2.03% a year earlier; the cost-to-income ratio stood at 54.16% and the capital adequacy ratio at 73.26%.
- The bank now serves more than 8 million customers.
How Superbank grew
Superbank, listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange as PT Super Bank Indonesia Tbk (ticker SUPA), is backed by Grab, media group Emtek, Singtel, South Korea’s KakaoBank and Singapore’s GXS Bank. Like other digital banks, it has no branch network and runs almost entirely through apps. Banks in Indonesia are supervised by the Otoritas Jasa Keuangan (OJK), the country’s Financial Services Authority, and amounts here are in rupiah (IDR).
A big part of the growth comes from embedded finance, meaning banking products offered inside apps people already use. Through its Pinjaman Atur Sendiri (PAS) loan, Grab and OVO users can borrow directly in those apps without downloading the Superbank app. This lets the bank reach drivers, merchants and shoppers at the moment they need money, at a much lower cost than signing up customers one by one.
In the third quarter, Superbank also added a “Top-Up & Bayar” (Top-Up & Pay) feature in its own app. Customers can use it to top up e-wallet balances, buy mobile credit and pay bills, which turns the bank account into an everyday payments tool rather than just a place to park savings. The bank is also working with Grab to finance hundreds of electric vehicles for the GrabCar Plus Electric fleet, in an initial phase.
President Director Tigor M. Siahaan said strong deposit growth is the foundation for the bank, adding that growth is not only about how many customers join but about the trust they place in Superbank’s services.
Why it matters
Profit is the big test for digital banks. They spend heavily on technology, marketing and high savings rates to win customers, and many in Southeast Asia are still losing money years after launch. Superbank’s numbers suggest that pairing a bank with a large app ecosystem can shorten that path: deposits grew faster than loans, and the cost-to-income ratio of 54.16% shows a business that is starting to cover its running costs with room to spare.
The very high capital adequacy ratio of 73.26% also matters. It means the bank holds far more capital than its current lending needs, giving it plenty of room to keep growing its loan book in Indonesia, Southeast Asia’s largest economy.
There is a regional angle too. Grab runs a similar model in other markets, including GXS Bank in Singapore and GXBank in Malaysia, where digital banks are also under pressure to show they can turn a profit. Superbank’s results give the wider Grab group, and its rivals, a clear example of what ecosystem banking can deliver once it reaches scale.
What to watch
- Whether Superbank keeps loan quality steady as it lends faster through Grab and OVO, especially to drivers and small merchants.
- Its fourth-quarter plans for deeper ecosystem integration and new financial services, including how the Top-Up & Bayar feature and EV financing scale up.
- How other digital banks in Indonesia and the region respond, as investors increasingly ask for profits, not just customer numbers.
Related on FinDeskAsia: Inside Malaysia’s e-wallet war and ASEAN’s cross-border QR record.
Sources: Fintech News Indonesia (October 2026), Kontan (October 2026), Liputan6 (October 2026).
