Banks prepare ATMs for extended Idul Fitri break

Urip Hudiono, The Jakarta Post. Jakarta

With Idul Fitri arriving this week, people are advised to wrap up all of their banking business by Tuesday before the banks -- along with most other businesses -- close up shop for the long holiday.

Banks in the country will be closed from Nov. 2 until Nov. 9, when the central bank reopens its clearinghouse for the banks.

The Idul Fitri holiday, which marks the end of Ramadhan, falls on Nov. 3 and Nov. 4 this year.

Employees at state institutions and firms will be on leave from Nov. 2 to Nov. 8, and most private sector employees will receive similar leaves.

Despite the weeklong holiday, banks said they would still provide such basic banking services as cash withdrawals through their ATMs.

Other noncash banking services, such as cash transfers and bill payments, will also be available through ATMs, as well as through phone banking, Internet banking and mobile banking.

"Customers need not worry. We have at present a total of 2,562 ATMs across the country and all of them are ready to serve customers' needs for cash withdrawals or cash transfers during the holiday," Bank Mandiri corporate secretary Ekoputro Adijayanto told The Jakarta Post.

Ekoputro said Mandiri, the country's largest lender by assets, had prepared as much as Rp 7 trillion (US$698.60 million) in additional funds for its ATM network for the long holiday.

"A total of Rp 2 trillion alone has been set aside for customers in Greater Jakarta.

"That amount of money is enough to meet ATM cash needs for two weeks before Idul Fitri and a week after," he said.

Similarly, Bank Central Asia (BCA), Indonesia's second largest lender, has also prepared its network of 3,500 ATMs, the largest network in the country, for the long holiday.

"We have prepared a total of Rp 6 trillion in cash for our ATMs, enough for the weeklong holiday," BCA general manager for consumer banking Stephen Liestyo said.

"We have also prepared a full maintenance team at each branch office, standing by to ensure that all our ATMs work properly during that time."

BCA customers can also use their ATM cards as debit cards at up to 20,000 merchants nationwide.

"Customers can also perform noncash transfers and payments through our KlikBCA Internet banking service," he said.

Nevertheless, both Eko and Stephen reminded customers to take care of any banking business that cannot be done through ATMs by this Tuesday.

And considering that machines -- including ATMs -- have been known to fail, it is also wise to have some ready cash at hand in the event of an emergency during the holiday.