BCA makes RI Visa's 3rd largest network

JAKARTA (JP): Bank Central Asia's (BCA) 1,200 automated teller machines (ATM) throughout Indonesia joined the Visa global ATM network yesterday, making the country Visa's third largest in- country network in the Asia Pacific.

Visa International Asia Pacific president Dennis Goggin and BCA president Abdullah Ali launched the Visa-BCA ATM network, which will enable Visa cardholders to withdraw cash from all BCA ATMs.

Abdullah explained that in the first stage the facility would be provided to overseas issued Visa cards. Domestically issued Visa cards will have the same privilege next year.

He said one of the reasons BCA provided the facility was to support the country's tourism industry.

"Tourists coming to Indonesia will have easy access to cash via their Visa cards through more than 1,200 BCA ATMs, 24 hours a day," he said.

BCA's participation in the network means there are 1,400 Visa ATMs in Indonesia, with only Australia and Thailand having more, Goggin said.

He said ATM growth had been enormous in recent years.

Visa's ATM network is now 70 percent bigger than a year ago with 15,800 ATMs in 22 countries, including China and Vietnam.

Worldwide, more than 341,000 ATMs in 109 countries are part of Visa's global network.

"The number is impressive -- especially when you consider that just 15 years ago, virtually nobody used ATMs away from home. Today, our Visa network processes more than a million transactions a day," Goggin said.

"That's a reflection of just how important the ATM has become in our daily lives -- both at home and overseas. It has become important because the technology itself has moved in line with the market," he said.

He said Indonesia benefited from the rapid development of ATMs. Last year, visitors to Indonesia spent US$440 million on their Visa cards.

"Now, with local currency available to Visa cardholders at any one of 1,400 ATMs, Indonesia can expect that level of spending to increase," Goggin said.

He said the average Visa ATM international transaction in the Asia Pacific was $162, $60 higher than the international average.

According to Visa data, people in the Asia Pacific region spend $4.7 trillion each year in personal consumption expenditure and more than 90 percent of that is in cash.

But Visa doubled payment by card against cash in the Asia Pacific between 1991 and 1996. In Indonesia it increased by 80 percent in the same period.

"Currently, 1.3 percent of personal consumption is paid for by card in Indonesia. But as the 80 percent increase in cash displacement shows, Indonesia is moving swiftly towards payment by card," Goggin said. (rid)