BCA senior credit card general manager Santoso said that the integration of the Amex card system with that of its EDC would be done gradually over the course of several years.

'Our past experience shows that such integration may take between one and two years to complete all of our EDC units and merchants. We will decide the priority areas to be integrated first, with top priority given to major cities,' he said.

By the time the integration is fully completed, BCA will see its fee-based income rise by more than 15 percent per year.

Last year, BCA booked Rp 1.35 trillion (US$110.54 million) in fee-based income from credit cards.

An average 15 percent annual increase would drive the income higher to reach at least Rp 1.55 trillion by the end of 2014. BCA's latest financial report shows that it already posted Rp 1.19 trillion in income during the first nine months, almost 80 percent of the full-year target.

'The amount of transactions [using Amex cards] may be small, but the value will be higher compared to the others,' Santoso said, citing Amex's relatively higher focus in the corporate card segment.

He added that the higher target would be supported by a higher number of merchants as well in 2015. BCA expects to have more than 162,000 merchant partners next year.

Meanwhile, its worldwide card member loans amounted to US$66.1 billion by the end of the third quarter this year.

It's billed business growth in the Japan, Asia Pacific and Australia (JAPA) region rose by 16 percent year-on-year, the highest growth rate of all regions. Billed business basically represents the dollar amount of charges on all Amex cards.

YC Koh, American Express International Inc. president for Asia, acknowledged that Indonesia was a top travel destination in Asia among its card holders.

'We want to be where our customers are and where our prospects are. We have a lot of confidence in Indonesia, with its population of more than 240 million and growing economy. A lot of our customers do travel to Indonesia for business as well as for leisure,' he added.

The latest credit card statistics show that 5 to 10 percent of total credit card transactions in Indonesia are generated by cards that are issued overseas.

By the end of September, total credit card transactions amounted to Rp 185.59 trillion, according to Bank Indonesia (BI).

Popular

Shrinking civic space, militarization could drag down Indonesia’s corruption index: TII

Govt plans to limit outsourcing to four service categories

Beyond the pitch: The World Cup as a stage for recognition