Depending too much on technology is not good<\/p>\n
By Hanny Agustine<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The banking industry, a sector most affected by
\nthe economic turmoil, suffered further when more than 500 bank
\noffices were damaged or burned down in the recent riots.<\/p>\n
Angry mobs rampaged and burned not only the buildings, but
\nalso ATMs. Bank Central Asia, the biggest private bank in the
\ncountry, was a major target. Almost 150 ATMs and 122 branch
\noffices were rampaged, looted and\/or burned down.<\/p>\n
As a result, as reported by the media, there were long queues
\nin front of the bank's ATMs still in operation. Customers waited
\nfor hours to get to the head of the queues.<\/p>\n
BCA has the most sophisticated online system out of all the
\ncountry's banks. The bank, which had almost eight million
\ncustomers before the riots, relies on its almost 1,800 ATMs.<\/p>\n
Unlike ATM services provided by several other banks which
\nallow withdrawals only, BCA customers can also pay their
\ntelephone, electricity and pager bills or transfer money to other
\nBCA branches which are online. This helps accelerate business
\ntransactions across the country.<\/p>\n
ATMs became widely used here only a few years ago. Things are
\nvery simple, just push in your pin and account numbers and make a
\ntransaction. When you need money, you can withdraw from an ATM
\nmachine any time of day. Customers do not need to keep a lot of
\nmoney at home and there is no need to go to the bank frequently.<\/p>\n
Due to the ease, it is not surprising that more and more
\npeople are using ATMs. People have become used to ATMs, even
\ndependent.<\/p>\n
Over the last three years, there has been a growing focus on
\ncore business among large users. Indonesian executives are slowly
\nseeing information technology as a strategic tool, which can
\ncontribute to business performance. They are beginning to look
\ninto information technology to help reduce costs and increase
\nrevenue.<\/p>\n
The introduction of ATMs banks spread widely and a dependency
\non technology grew.<\/p>\n
From a customer's viewpoint, the simplicity and various
\nfeatures offered by ATMs create more dependency on technology.<\/p>\n
It was not easy, though, to convince the public about the
\nbenefits of ATMs. Banks actually introduced ATMs a long time ago,
\nbut it took years before people accepted the technology.<\/p>\n
When the riots rocked Jakarta in the middle of last month, the
\nreliability of ATMs broke down due to vandalism. Many customers
\nhad to delay telephone bill payments or postpone business
\ntransactions.<\/p>\n
There are lots of benefits in online systems, but once the
\nsystem is interrupted, business is affected. This indicts how
\ndependent we have become on technology.<\/p>\n
Obviously, a lot of money was spent on preparing the
\ninfrastructure and applying the technology.<\/p>\n
Now the banks which were affected by the recent riots have to
\ninvest in new machines, rebuild branch offices and install new
\nsystems. Even though the destruction of ATMs and branch offices
\ndoes not affect a central computer system, a backup system has to
\nbe set up and disaster recovery system implemented.<\/p>\n
However, technology needs infrastructure readiness and
\ntherefore bringing back normalcy will take some time.<\/p>",
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