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tate-owned Bank Mandiri expects to have at least five million users of its cell phone application for micro-size payments by the end of this year as part of the bank'€™s efforts to promote non-cash transactions in the country.

The bank'€™s electronic banking (e-banking) group vice president Budi Hartono said the target was part of its long-term plan to reach 100 million Mandiri e-cash users by 2020 as it aims for a wider use of non-cash transactions in the country.

The application, categorized as an e-money service, enables users to conduct small payments as well as withdraw money from Mandiri ATMs using only their cell phone numbers.

'€œCurrently, we already have two million e-cash users, of whom one million are citizens who received direct cash aid [BLT] from the government,'€ Budi said at an event on Wednesday.

The one million receivers of BLT through Mandiri e-cash are part of the country'€™s total 15.5 million citizens in the lower-income segment eligible for state compensation following the reallocation of fuel subsidy funds in November last year.

In the previous administration, all receivers of state BLT obtained their funds through post offices across the country and local administration officials.

Budi said Mandiri would continue to promote the product through more partnerships with merchants and institutions as the bank needed to seek roughly three million new e-cash users in the next few months to achieve its target.

Its latest partnership is an agreement and joint promotion signed on Wednesday by the bank with Pertamina Pension Fund as well as online retailer Matahari Mall and supported by IT company Digital Artha Media as an effort to support a non-cash transaction culture.

Under the agreement, receivers of pension benefits from Pertamina Pension Fund will obtain their monthly funds through Mandiri e-cash, which can also be used for online purchases of goods on Matahari Mall'€™s website.

'€œReceivers of Pertamina pension benefits will also be able to check their balances and withdraw money from Mandiri ATMs as well as pay their monthly bills through the app,'€ Budi said.

Budi said the bank was actively seeking partnerships with other e-commerce firms as its cell phone application would help companies to increase their business efficiency and promote better experiences in online shopping for customers.

According to Budi, most online shoppers still choose '€œtwo-step'€ payment methods, such as transfer through ATMs or cash on delivery (COD), which is considered inefficient as customers need to leave their computers or gadgets to find ATMs to pay for their purchases, rather than using credit cards or phone applications.

'€œE-commerce players tend to like a seamless and continuous payment system, which is integrated with their platforms so that customers have a simple yet unique experience when shopping for goods online,'€ Budi said.

As part of enhancing Mandiri e-cash and its overall e-money products, Budi said the bank was in the process of inviting four to five lenders who did not have e-money licenses from Bank Indonesia, but wished to join Mandiri'€™s platform under a cobranding mechanism.

State-owned Bank Tabungan Negara (BTN) is one of the lenders that has already joined the cobranding e-money platform with Mandiri, which includes payments for retail purchases, toll fees and public transportation.