W

ith Ramadhan drawing close, bankers say they are looking forward to the holy month to boost their consumer business.

Bank Central Asia (BCA) president director Jahja Setiaatmadja said that the private lender expected to see an uptick in its consumer loans between the second and third quarters of this year.

'€œTraditionally, there is an increase in demand approaching the fasting month. We hope to see the pattern repeated this year, even though the economy is slowing down,'€ he said.

According to Jahja, an increase in the consumer segment will help drive BCA'€™s overall loan performance, especially as the bank booked only 5.8 percent year-on-year growth in the first quarter.

'€œWe have prepared several programs to attract consumer interest, including in automotive loans by lowering our interest rate,'€ he said.

At present, BCA also partners with subsidiaries BCA Finance and CS Finance in its automotive financing. It recently rolled out a new car prize program with BCA Finance to spur demand, with the latter claiming to offer very low interest rates.

The consumer segment is one of BCA'€™s key credit segments, accounting for more than 25 percent of its total lending portfolio in the first three months of 2015. Consumer loans also posted the second-highest annual growth rate during the period, after the commercial and small and medium enterprise segment.

BCA hopes to record an 8 to 12 percent rise in consumer loans to about Rp 99.66 trillion (US$7.64 billion) this year, supported by the new program and the rate cut.

Besides the consumer segment, the lender also expects to see an increase in working capital demand as the fasting month draws near. '€œBusinesses must begin with their inventories at around this time. We hope working capital will grow higher than the regular period,'€ Jahja said.

Meanwhile, Bank Mandiri consumer banking director Hery Gunardi said that the state lender would expand its partnership scope with various merchants to jack up its consumer business.

'€œWe usually see higher spending approaching Idul Fitri, especially in the automotive loan, personal loan and credit card segments. The increase is around 15 to 20 percent from previous months,'€ he said.

Like BCA, Mandiri will also roll out a new program to attract more automotive loan demands in partnership with Mandiri Tunas Finance, the bank'€™s subsidiary in automotive financing.

In the first quarter, Mandiri reportedly had Rp 65.65 trillion in consumer loans, accounting for 13.7 percent of its outstanding loans. By year-end, Hery said that it hoped the figure would reach Rp 81.41 trillion.

Separately, Bank Negara Indonesia (BNI) consumer banking director Anggoro Eko Cahyo said that BNI preferred to intensify its credit card and personal loan segments before Idul Fitri.

According to Anggoro, BNI normally records significant increases in credit card use at grocery stores two weeks before the fasting month and at department stores two weeks before Idul Fitri.

'€œThe cycle will remain the same. People shop for groceries for sahur [predawn meals] and to break the fast in the evening in the early weeks of Ramadhan. They will then shop for clothes, shoes and other items at department stores in the two weeks before Idul Fitri, after they receive their holiday bonus,'€ he said.

BNI has set its overall consumer business growth target at a cautious 10 percent.

OCBC NISP president director Parwati Surjaudaja said in an email that the bank had prepared several programs, including zero-percent interest at various stores and online shops.