Artajasa plans KL banking services

Johannes Simbolon, Jakarta Post, Jakarta

PT Artajasa Pembayaran Elektronis, an electronic payment services company, plans to set up an alliance with Malaysian banks to allow Indonesian workers in Malaysia to transfer and receive funds through the banks.

Company corporate development group head Aries Barkah told The Jakarta Post on Monday the service, which is scheduled to be launched in December this year, would involve eight Malaysian banks, including Maybank, Bumiputera Bhd and Commerce Assets Holdings Bhd.

"The service will be quite helpful for Indonesian workers who have been facing problems in sending home their wages or bringing money into the country," Aries said.

There are about 1.5 million Indonesians working in Malaysia, most of whom come from rural areas. Many of the workers carry their money with them when entering or leaving Malaysia, making them vulnerable to robbery.

Others send their wages home through couriers who charge high fees for the service.

Aries said that in order to get access to the new service, workers would have to open an account at one of the banks grouped in the ATM Bersama (joint automated teller machine) service operated by Artajasa. There are now 42 members of Artajasa's joint ATM service, including dozens of provincial banks.

Once the new service is launched in Malaysia, Indonesian workers will be able to withdraw cash from the ATMs of one of the eight Malaysian banks participating in the new service, using ATM cards issued by the Indonesian banks. By showing these ATM cards, workers can also transfer money through the Malaysian banks back to their banks in Indonesia.

"Two days later the workers can check whether their banks in Indonesia have received the transferred funds, through the ATMs owned by the Malaysian banks," Arief explained.

Arief said Artajasa was mulling a similar alliance with banks in Saudi Arabia, Singapore and Hong Kong, where millions of Indonesians now work or are looking for jobs.

Artajasa is 35 percent owned by the Welfare Foundation of Bank Indonesia and 65 percent by Lintasarta. Lintasarta is 69 percent owned by telecommunications firm Indosat, in partnership with a number of banking institutions who hold a combined 31 percent.

The firm now operates 5,000 ATMs across Indonesia under the ATM Bersama name. Besides dozens of provincial banks, the members of the joint ATM service include foreign banks Standard Chartered Bank and ABN AMRO, and large and mid-sized national banks such as Permata, Niaga, NISP, BNI, BRI, Danamon, Muamalat and Bumiputera.

Aside from withdrawing cash and making payments, people can also make interbank transfers through Artajasa's ATM network, for a fee of Rp 5,000 (54 US cents) per transaction. The transfer service was launched earlier this year.