T

hings will be a bit easier for customers of Indonesia’s top two banks, PT Bank Mandiri (Persero) Tbk and PT Bank Central Asia Tbk, after the banks officially connected their ATM systems on Monday.

“This really helps me. It will no longer take me 30 minutes to withdraw cash from BCA then deposit it at Mandiri. Now I can do it online in less than five minutes for a fee of Rp 5,000 [55 US cents],” said a 30-year-old Jakarta-based media worker who declined to be named.

Mandiri signed a deal in October with Prima ATM network service provider Rintis Sejahtera, which carries 48 banks, including BCA, to allow customers under the network to transfer money, check balances and withdraw funds.

Prima’s network currently covers 31,000 ATM machines, including 7,000 BCA ATMs and 9,000 Mandiri ATMs. Mandiri’s ATMs alone recorded 11,000 transactions a day, president director Zulkifli Zaini said, adding that the bank would add 3,500 ATMs this year.

BCA CEO Jahja Setiaatmadja added that the “merger of two powers” in the nation’s banking system would make the banks more efficient.

“This [covers] most of the country’s ATM users,” Bank Indonesia (BI) governor Darmin Nasution said. “Our payment system will continue to implement the cashless society.”

The Mandiri–BCA connection is part of BI national payment gateway master plan to integrate all ATM provider networks into a single system by the end of 2013.

There are currently three ATM network providers: Artajasa Pembayaran Elektronis (Bersama), Rintis Sejahtera (Prima) and Daya Network Lestari (ALTO).

— JP/Esther Samboh