Jl. Kwitang home to money changers for all seasons

Jl. Kwitang home to money changers for all seasons

By Christiani S.A. Tumelap

JAKARTA (JP): It's midnight and you need some cash in your
hand but the ATM is not working, your account is empty anyway,
and all you've got left are two wrinkled US$100 bills in your
pocket. What can you do?

Herman from Manggarai in South Jakarta said he cashed $200 in
notes and coins worth a further $10 at a street currency trader
on Jl. Kwitang in Central Jakarta at 1 a.m. two weeks ago.

"Thank goodness street money changers were still working,
otherwise I wouldn't have been able to pay my wife's hospital
bill," he told The Jakarta Post yesterday.

Herman, who had been told of the money changing vendors by a
friend, said he preferred to use them because of the higher rates
which they offered.

He said they were happy to accept creased and torn notes and
would also take coins. Furthermore, he added, there was no need
to show a passport or identification documents like at official
banks and money changers.

Ais, a vendor with two children who lives just behind the
street, said the rate he and his colleagues offered was between
Rp 100 and Rp 300 better than the rates on offer at most banks
and money changers.

"Very few banks and money changers accept creased or torn
notes and if they do they often cut their rate by at least Rp 500
per dollar.

"Here we buy torn, dirty and folded notes for only 10 percent
less than the rate we give for notes in good condition," he said.

Ais, who once mistakenly bought a fake $100 bill, said he
joined the business in May after realizing that many of his
neighbors working on the street were taking home between Rp 5,000
and Rp 20,000 every day.

Another vendor, Joni, said the Jl. Kwitang money changing
business was started in 1992 by two or three local residents.

The business, he recalled, had humble origins. Local
residents first began to dapple in currency dealing by escorting
the prospective customers of an nearby official money changer to
an Arab who ran a money changing business from his home in nearby
Kali Pasir. They received a small commission for this courtesy.

The number of local people working as money changers grew
rapidly after the May riots, Joni said.

He said the business had helped many local people through hard
times.

"Many of the vendors here were formerly jobless. Sometimes
they worked as parking attendants in this area and sometimes they
would loiter around and act like hoodlums, if I may say," Joni
explained.

"But don't worry. Nobody has ever messed around with their
customers. You can complain if you feel you did not get a good
service," he added.

There are now around 150 people, mostly residents of the
Kwitang subdistrict, who stand at the roadside waving at every
passing motorists in the hope of getting a customer.

They start operating from as early as 6 a.m. and work right
through until 2 a.m.

They take most foreign money, but draw the line at unpopular
currencies like the Israeli shekel.

People who exchange money with the street vendors should not
expect a receipt, but vendors are happy to write down details of
the transaction on a piece of paper or provide you with their
name card as a guarantee.

Pedestrians and motorists might on occasion find them annoying
because they aggressively tout their services to all who pass
down the street.

The vendors are divided vaguely in two open groups. Each group
sticks to their own half of the street.

The group operating near the Senen triangle intersection are
mostly Bataks (an ethnic group from North Sumatra) and those
working near the Gunung Mulia bookshop are Betawi (native
Jakartans) and Javanese.

But they often cooperate, especially if a big deal is going
down.

Most work as middlemen and earn at least Rp 100 commission on
every dollar exchanged.

The Kwitang street has a few bandar besar (big dealers) and
around 40 smaller operators.

A bandar besar called Bakti said he started his business late
last year with an initial capital of Rp 200 million.

"I used to run a construction firm but it collapsed after I
didn't get any new projects for eight months.

"I turned to this business because I thought it could be quite
promising, especially now when the exchange rate is so volatile,"
he said.

A vendor must be able to read the economic and political
situation in order to predict how the exchange rate will
fluctuate, he said.

"I always watch the CNBC currency program on television and my
colleagues have contacts in Bank Indonesia. We have to be able to
predict (official rates) so that we can offer a better rate to
our customers," he said.

Domestic political turmoil has had an enormous impact on the
exchange rate, said Bakti who once made a net profit of Rp 3
million in a single day.

He said notes in good condition were sold back to the market
and notes in poor condition were sold at a lower rate to people
planning to go overseas.