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State banks look to integrate electronic services in July
Four state-owned banks are looking to integrate their electronic services in July to reduce costs and maximize efficiency for the banks, while at the same time providing more affordable and convenient services for customers
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our state-owned banks are looking to integrate their electronic services in July to reduce costs and maximize efficiency for the banks, while at the same time providing more affordable and convenient services for customers.
The initial stage of the consolidation will integrate the ATMs of Bank Mandiri, Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI), Bank Negara Indonesia (BNI) and Bank Tabungan Negara (BTN), according to a government roadmap.
Subsequently, the electronic data capture (EDC) machines of all four state banks are expected to be integrated, allowing one machine to process transactions from any of the banks' customers.
The ATM integration, meanwhile, will allow an ATM belonging to any of the four to be used by customers of any of the others.
This facility is in fact already available, as the banks now use the same Link network. However, the integration is expected to solve the current widespread issue of ATM overcrowding, according to an official.
'We won't see too many ATMs jammed into one area. We would like to see the machines deployed to other areas that have low electronic channel penetration, such as outside Java,' said Gatot Trihargo, the State-Owned Enterprises (SOE) Ministry's deputy for business services.
The integration will also result in standardized fees.
Data from the four lenders show that they operated up to 52,250 ATMs across the country as of March. BRI had the highest number of ATMs with almost 21,000, followed by Mandiri, BNI and BTN.
Gatot dismissed the notion that the integration would hamper the banks' business expansion, saying that they would certainly be allowed to operate new ATMs, but that the focus was on low-penetration regions.
The plan, he added, was part of a wider strategy of SOE consolidation.
'We want to increase efficiency within the banks, starting from their back offices. The information technology systems that they use right now are basically the same, so they can just synergize them and not spend too much on capex [capital expenditure]', he said recently.
The saved funds, Gatot added, could instead be used to finance various loans that would eventually generate higher income.
Mandiri's senior executive vice president for transaction banking, Rico Usthavia Frans, meanwhile, said that a pilot project would be put in place next month, during which the integration would be tested on 50 ATMs.
The scheme would then be extended to 800 ATMs by year-end.
BRI president director Asmawi Syam, meanwhile, said his bank provided up to 2,000 new ATMs per year to meet customers' needs.
'The number may change or stay the same after the integration. We don't know yet because our assessment is still ongoing,' he said, adding that the integration would lead to cost efficiency for the bank as well.
'However, one thing is for sure, we are also eying other areas, so that our ATMs are more equally distributed,' Asmawi added.
Separately, Bank Indonesia (BI) deputy governor Ronald Waas said that the central bank was pleased about the integration of the state lenders' e-services.
'It will provide more convenience for customers because they can access them at relatively lower costs,' Ronald said.
