Banks to open more ATMs

JAKARTA (JP): The demand for new Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) in Indonesia has increased by over 150 percent a year, according to ATM equipment and service provider NCR Corporation Indonesia.

Subbaraman Iyer, the director of marketing and development at the company, said on Monday that opening ATMs now had become a necessity in local banks' expansion programs.

"Banks are increasingly under pressure to develop their off- premise ATMs and, in some cases, have redesigned branches to provide more transaction outlets since the operating cost of an ATM is much less compared to that of operating a branch," he said.

The company announced it controlled about 75 percent of the country's ATMs and the service market last year and expected the market share would further increase in the coming years, he said. (cst)