Private company

Javasche Bank

Bank in Netherlands East Indies and Indonesia

The Bank of Java (Dutch: De Javasche Bank N.V., abbreviated as DJB) was a note-issuing bank in the Dutch East Indies, founded in 1828, and nationalized in 1951 by the government of Indonesia to become the newly independent country’s central bank, later renamed Bank Indonesia. For more than a century, the Bank of Java was the central institution of the Dutch East Indies’ financial system, alongside the “big three” commercial banks (the Netherlands Trading Society, the Nederlandsch-Indische Handelsbank, and the Nederlandsch-Indische Escompto Maatschappij).2 It is headquartered in Batavia.1 It ceased to exist in 1953.1 Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 21, 2026.

Overview

1828Founded1
  • Industryfinancial service activities, except insurance and pension funding1
  • HeadquartersBatavia1
Jakarta Indonesia Museum-Bank-Indonesia-02
Photo: CEphoto, Uwe Aranas, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons4

The Bank of Java (Dutch: De Javasche Bank N.V., abbreviated as DJB) was a note-issuing bank in the Dutch East Indies, founded in 1828, and nationalized in 1951 by the government of Indonesia to become the newly independent country’s central bank, later renamed Bank Indonesia. For more than a century, the Bank of Java was the central institution of the Dutch East Indies’ financial system, alongside the “big three” commercial banks (the Netherlands Trading Society, the Nederlandsch-Indische Handelsbank, and the Nederlandsch-Indische Escompto Maatschappij). It was both a note-issuing bank and a commercial bank.2

The story

The first bank founded in the Indonesian archipelago was the Bank van Courant, established in 1746, to support trading activity. In 1752, it was renamed De Bank van Courant en Bank Van Leening (lit. 'Bank of current [accounts] and loans'), and was given a mandate to extend loans to employees of the Dutch East India Company. In 1818, that institution closed as a consequence of financial crisis.

From Wikipedia’s article on Bank of Java, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.3

Acquisitions

  1. Succeeded by Bank Indonesia1

Timeline

  1. 1953Dissolved Dissolved1
  2. 1828Founded Founded1

Sources

The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.

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