BCA services

BCA services

I read with interest the letters from Mr. Taufiq and Mr. Smith
regarding their experiences with their BCA dollar account. I
await BCA's explanation as I too have had frustrating experiences
with my BCA dollar account at the Menara Imperium branch office.

I opened the account a few months ago because I am obligated
to transfer small sums of money overseas every month for some
recurring payments. I chose BCA because I appreciated the
convenience of their vast ATM network and its proximity to my
office.

I too discovered that BCA does not allow its customers to get
at their dollars easily. I was told that there is an
administration charge of 0.125 percent plus a tax/fee of Rp 2,000
for a revenue stamp each time I would make a transfer. The rider
here is that the administration charge is a minimum US$15 for all
transfers below $12,000, which means practically everyone.

A second procedure involves checking the bank's dollar selling
rate and then withdrawing the needed amount of rupiah via the ATM
(using the BCA Dollar card) at of course a much lower rate. Then,
I buy back dollars from the teller. This avoids the revenue
stamp, but if the equivalent amount exceeds Rp 2 million, tough
luck, as this is the card limit for a daily withdrawal. Obviously
this is only a slight variation of Mr. Taufiq's and Mr. Smith's
description of BCA's dollar withdrawal procedure.

For both procedures, a customer also has to pay a normal
transfer charge of Rp 20,000. I have been using the ATM method
since I lose less (around $11) and the revenue stamp is avoided.
But I realize that if Mr. Smith could insist on withdrawing his
dollars without paying any conversion rates or surcharge, it
cannot be a government regulation but must be a discretionary
(and discriminatory) ruse by the bank.

Can any of the readers suggest reliable local banks which do
not discriminate between normal rupiah and dollar transactions? I
will continue to maintain a rupiah account with BCA for the
convenience of their ATM facility but want to close the BCA
dollar account.

RAVI K. MENON

Jakarta