More access for everyone with consumer charge cards
By Achmad Junaidi
JAKARTA (JP): Credit should go to big-mouthed TV actor Mandra, spouting off in yet another commercial. He asks how come his fellow actor Rano Karno, who is toting a big Ramayana department store bag and a new shirt, has been shopping in the middle of the month.
"'cause I've got this Ramayana card!" says Rano, star of the top-rated Si Doel TV drama. Mandra is soon following suit, swinging a shopping bag and declaring: "Just shop on and on! No more need to think of the crisis time of month! You can just borrow!"
All the fuss is about a charge card issued by department store chain Ramayana in cooperation with Bank Bali.
Ramayana has around 60 outlets across the country, aimed at the lower middle-class income group, and the characters played by Mandra and Rano represent these people.
Their message is that there is no need to count pennies, even if it is a long way before pay day. Charging is acceptable in a department store, and people get to pay with plastic just like the rich.
Only the Ramayana card has been advertised on private television stations, but there has been a flood of applicants. The requirement is a gross income of at least Rp 500,000 a month.
Herawati, a card application officer at Ramayana in Blok M, South Jakarta, said more than 200 people apply for the card at the store each week. There were 35,000 applications in the first four months after its launching last August, according to Bank Bali's first vice president A. Ganda Kusuma.
Many department stores and supermarkets had issued their own customer cards before Ramayana.
Hero supermarket and Matahari department store have also cooperated with Bank Bali to issue customer charge cards.
Pasaraya shopping center, which is owned by the ALatief Corporation established by Abdul Latief, now minister of manpower, cooperated with Bank Duta to issue its own card.
Annual fees for Ramayana and Matahari are Rp 20,000.
Their cards offer discounts to shoppers ranging between 5 percent to 50 percent.
Ganda dismissed suggestions the cards encourage reckless spending.
He said the issuers want to create loyal costumers -- those who regularly shop at the merchants -- not people who will become saddled by debt.
"If the customers spend more than their salaries and then stop from buying at the department store, it would also be our loss," Kusuma said.
Risks
He added that the card business carries risks, regardless of target group, but these had been insignificant.
"If you don't have the core competence in promoting, selecting and applying a warning system in the approach to the lower income class, you will get burned," he said.
But he said risks could be anticipated as banks were aware of what were "tolerable" debts. "Don't assume Ramayana is less profitable than Sogo department store."
The charge card, which started for safety and convenience reasons, is ushering in a cashless lifestyle, Ganda added.
Other choices are debit cards, for which standing bank accounts are directly debited when transactions are made.
Bank Bali and six different companies, including Hero, bookstore Gramedia, Matahari, airline company Sempati Air launched KualiVa discount scheme program in August 1995 for its debit-card holders.
Ganda said KualiVa aimed at setting up a new lifestyle for the Indonesian middle-class, allowing them full control over their needs.
The system is supposed to provide ultimate convenience by cooperating with an array of companies ranging from telecommunications and department stores, to hairdressers.
"Individuals' expenses would be better planned and controlled because they would be able to estimate cost of goods and services of related merchants for their every need," Ganda said.
KualiVa company members have increased.
They are PT Modern Putra Indonesia, a photography company; Accor Asia Pacific Indonesia, a hotel chain; telecommunications company PT Satelit Palapa Indonesia; PT Meganusa Lintas Buana, an Internet provider; PT Grita Artha Kreamindo, a franchisee of French laundry company 5 a'Sec; and three paging services companies, PT Skytelindo Services, PT Persada Komindo and PT Raya Pertiwi Semesta.
KualiVa promotes products and services by offering discounts in the form of points -- each worth Rp 1 -- which can be accumulated by buying products or services at any of the members' outlets. Discounts range from 5 percent to 50 percent.
Bank Bali Vice President Budi G. Sadikin earlier said the 750,000 KualiVa cardholders had made Rp 7 billion worth of transactions since its launching.
KualiVa aims to raise this to a million cardholders with total transactions of Rp 100 billion by the end of this year, Bank Bali president Rudy Ramli said earlier.
Another service for KualiVa holders is the transfer of 0.25 percent of each transaction to charity.
Kusuma said KualiVa had donated Rp 350 million to charity causes since its launching.
Targeted customers are frequent air travelers, diners in high- end restaurants, book lovers and regular shoppers.
KualiVa boasts the largest number and variety of merchants.
Besides Bank Bali, other banks such as Lippobank and Bank Dharmala, have also issued have their debit cards. The cards also provide special discounts at participating shops.
Urban shoppers, be they the Sogo elite or Mandra disciples, can expect to be able to pick and choose from more discounts and incentives as more card issuers set out to attract them.