Seoul-headquartered KB Kookmin Bank said Friday that it had launched a more efficient money-transfer service Thursday for its Indonesian customers, who can now convert South Korean won directly to Indonesian rupiah with no need to convert funds to US dollars first. 

The commercial bank teamed up with Bank Negara Indonesia to lower the cost of converting currencies and make it possible to send money faster, KB Kookmin Bank said.

Normally, to remit funds to Indonesia, a double-conversion process is necessary: The bank holding the Korean won converts the currency into US dollars by going through a US bank, and then converts the US dollars into Indonesian rupiah.

Some 41,000 Indonesians lived in Korea as of June, according to the Korea Immigration Service.

This step is in line with KB Kookmin Bank‘s attempts to increase its presence in the Indonesian market. On July 30, KB Kookmin Bank became the second-largest shareholder in Bank Bukopin, acquiring 22 percent of its shares. Bank Bukopin owns 341 branches across Indonesia as of Friday.

By Son Ji-hyoung 
(consnow@heraldcorp.com)