The risky business of bank transfers

I have been a reader of The Jakarta Post since the day I arrived in Indonesia, hence my decision to send this letter.

I am French and my wife, who is pregnant, still lives in Paris.

One month ago, I transferred Rp 3,000,000 via BDN to her account in Paris but the money just disappeared. No one at BDN really cared, they claimed that the transfer had been processed.

Therefore, I called the partner bank (BNP) in Paris and was told that the BDN access code number was wrong. Since that day, no news.

BDN refused to pay me back. I had to sign a personal check for US$1,025 to get $950 that I gave to a friend leaving Indonesia for Paris.

I was charged $85 for a transaction that BDN never made and eventually, if BDN feels like reimbursing me, I will lose 10 percent because of the rupiah's drop.

Is that the way banks work in Indonesia?

Y-D MIEHAKANDA

Balikpapan, East Kalimantan