Banks sign on to collect region's phone bill

Banks sign on to collect region's phone bill

BEKASI, West Java (JP): The East Jakarta office of PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia (Telkom) signed agreements yesterday with 7 banks to cooperate in collecting telephone bills from subscribers.

The banks have been appointed official payment collection agents for telephone bills from Telkom's subscribers served by the office.

The office serves East Jakarta, Bekasi in West Java, Tebet in South Jakarta, and Kelapa Gading, North Jakarta.

The seven banks are Bank Raharja Makmur, Bank Muamalat, Bank Prima Express, Bank INA, Bank Tamara, Bank Intan and Bank BCD.

Telkom's executive general manager Rizal Saat said that the cooperation will focus on the implementation of a payment system known as giralisasi. The system requires Telkom's subscribers to open saving accounts at the designated banks.

The system will allow the banks to directly transfer the payments from subscribers' accounts to Telkom's account.

"I would say that it's the most efficient system because our clients will not have to go to the bank just to pay their phone bills. Moreover, the number of Telkom's customers will rapidly increase which means that cash payment will require more outlets," Rizal said.

He said that the number of telephone subscribers served by the office will reach 350,000 by the end of this year.

He said that the payment system was launched last year. In all, 33 banks, including the seven state-owned banks, participate in the program.

"Unfortunately, our clients still prefer to pay in cash. The latest data shows that only 32,440 or 13 percent of the total subscribers served by our office have made use of the service," Rizal said. (alo)