Citibank offers surcharge omission

Citibank offers surcharge omission

JAKARTA: Six leading national travel agencies have made an
agreement with banking giant Citibank to waive the 2.5 percent to
3 percent surcharge on bills paid by travellers using credit
cards.

"We hope this collaboration doesn't only benefit credit card
users, but also the traveling industry. We hope that this will
produce more travelers since traveling has become a lifestyle,"
Citibank's business manager Barry Lesmana said here on Friday in
a statement.

The six agencies are Wita Tour, Smailing Tour, Bayu Buana
Tour, Anta Tour, and Dwi Daya Tour.

The agreement is also expected to pioneer a termination of the
surcharge imposed on credit card users in the industry. "We hope
that the new facility will boost the use of credit cards and
create a new market segment (in the travel industry,)" said the
president of Wita Tour, Stanley Soesono.

Under the agreement, the travel agencies will also offer
"competitive" conversion rates for transactions in U.S. dollar.

Citibank also gives the facilities of ticket delivery, free
airport lounge, and travel insurance up to Rp 4 billion (about
US$470,000) to its card users. -- JP