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)