The bank traces its roots back to the year 1948 as one of Indonesia's first private banks when NV Bank Perniagaan Indonesia was established. Throughout the years the Bank had had major changes including several mergers. In 1977 PT Bank Perniagaan Indonesia merged with NV Central Commercial Bank. In 1982 Lippo Group became a shareholder of the bank and attained management contracts. The bank had its name changed to Lippo Bank in the same year. In 1989 the Bank merged with PT Bank Umum Asia, and it has retained the name Lippo Bank ever since. The year 1989 was even more significant to the bank as it went public during that year, and its shares are now traded on the Jakarta and Surabaya stock exchanges. In the extraordinary general meeting which was held on December 23,1998, the name of the Bank was changed to PT Bank Lippo Tbk. With the Banking deregulation in 1988, the bank began a rapid expantion of its branch network, with the goal to be the leading rund mobilization, clearing and payment centre. The Bank expanded its network from 30 branches in 1989 to 375 as of December 2001 in 120 cities throughout Indonesia. Within the same 10 years period, the Bank grew its assets from Rp. 344 billion (US$ 199 million) to Rp.14.4 trillion (US$ 1.79 billion). Its customer base from 57,000 to more than 2.1 million. The Bank concentrates its lending in the retail-commercial sector, in the small to medium size enterprises of distributors and traders, while its main target for deposits are in the retail/consumer market. The Bank offers a fiill range of retail, commercial, consumer, international and investment-banking products, servicing nearly 4 million individuals and corporate accounts.