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he Agency for the Placement and Protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers (BNP2TKI) said it would roll out a plan that would encourage Indonesian migrant workers abroad to engage in non-cash transactions as part of an effort to double the amount of remittances the country receives each year.

In a hearing with the House of Representatives'€™ Commission IX overseeing health and welfare, BNP2TKI head Nusron Wahid said, starting July 1, the agency would require migrant workers to open local bank accounts for themselves and their families before departing.

The accounts, according to Nusron, would not only help migrant workers better manage their financial flow but could also be used to send funds back home to family members in Indonesia with minimum services fees.

'€œAccording to a recent study by the Financial Services Authority [OJK] and Bank Indonesia, if this non-cash transaction system is fully in place, Indonesia will be able to double its revenues from [migrant workers'€™] remittances,'€ Nusron said, adding that at least four state-owned banks are interested in the program.

Nusron said Indonesia could learn from the success of the Philippines in encouraging its migrant workers to use non-cash transactions.

'€œLast year, Indonesian migrant workers only managed to send US$8.37 billion in remittances, much lower than the Philippines'€™ $26.8 billion in remittances despite the fact that we have a larger number of migrant workers than that country,'€ he said.

The latest data from the BNP2TKI show that there are currently 3.6 million Indonesians working in both formal and informal sectors overseas.

Some 80 percent of the migrant workers hail from 55 cities across the nation, including Sukabumi and Indramayu in West Java, Banyumas and Cilacap in Central Java and Parepare in South Sulawesi.

The agency, however, estimated that the actual number of Indonesian migrant workers could be in excess of 6 million.

The introduction of the non-cash transaction system, according to Nusron, would also help migrant workers avoid fraud committed by placement agencies or their employers, as the banks would record the details of their salaries.

Last month, Coordinating Economic Minister Sofyan Djalil said the increasing flow of remittances from Indonesian migrant workers would help the country strengthen the value of the rupiah, which had been plunging against the US dollar over the past couple months.

Contacted separately, Indonesian Migrant Workers Union (SBMI) advocacy head Yadi Adam Albadri supported the BNP2TKI'€™s proposal.

Yudi said the plan, once implemented, would encourage more migrant workers to rely on electronic money transfers when sending money home.

'€œMore than 50 percent of the complaints we are currently handling involve migrant workers who are paid below the amount specified in their employment contract. Many of them could not sue their employers, since they received their salary in cash and were given no receipts,'€ said Yadi.

Most Indonesian migrant workers work in the informal sector overseas, with many of them borrowing money or selling off assets to pay for their training and placement fees prior to departure.

Although he praised the BNP2TKI'€™s efforts to introduce non-cash transactions to migrant workers, Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) lawmaker and Commission IX member Imam Suroso said the agency must also ensure that the placement fees paid by would-be migrant workers remain affordable.

'€œThe agency, for example, could cooperate with the local manpower agency and police to crack down on middlemen who take migrant workers overseas without proper training and permits,'€ he said.