P

rivate lender UOB Indonesia expects to maintain the growth rate of its credit card transactions in 2016 as it saw an increase in the business last year.

The bank, part of Singapore'€™s financial giant, the United Overseas Bank Limited (UOB), managed to book growth last year of between 15 percent and 20 percent in credit card transactions, higher than the average single-digit growth in the banking industry.

'€œWe hope to maintain the growth again this year, at a minimum, as we will be more aggressive,'€ UOB Indonesia unsecured business head Irwan Tisnabudi said in a press conference on Thursday.

Irwan said the bank booked Rp 6 trillion (US$431 million) in credit card transactions last year from a total of 350,000 cards, making its market share between 2 percent and 2.5 percent of the domestic credit card industry.

As an effort to achieve its target, UOB Indonesia and Visa Worldwide Indonesia launched on Thursday a travel-focused credit card as an increasing number of the bank'€™s customers were using UOB credit cards while overseas.

Irwan said that the new product, called UOB PRVI Miles credit card, would be competitive in Indonesia as it offered its cardholders a fast way to earn airline miles.

The airline miles could be redeemed for free tickets from airline partners, such as Garuda Indonesia and Singapore Airlines, he said.

'€œCard members earn one airline mile for every Rp 3,500 spent overseas, or for every Rp 7,000 spent locally,'€ he said.

According to Bank Indonesia data, 6.31 million Indonesians traveled overseas last year, a 3 percent increase compared to 2014.

World Tourism Organization data shows that Asia emerged as the favorite region for Indonesian travelers with top three destinations: Singapore at 31 percent, Malaysia at 25 percent and China at 13 percent.

UOB Indonesia personal financial services head Lynn Ramli said the growing number of traveling Indonesians was also supported by increasing e-commerce that enabled them to plan and book their holidays online.

Irwan said Indonesian travelers are spending more as the bank managed to post more than Rp 800 billion in travel and overseas credit card transactions in 2015, an increase of 5 percent year-on-year (yoy).

As many as 14 percent of UOB Indonesia'€™s total credit card transactions worth more than Rp 6 trillion last year occurred overseas, mainly in Singapore (46 percent), followed by the US (8 percent), Malaysia (7 percent), Hong Kong (5 percent) and Japan (4 percent).

Most UOB Indonesia'€™s overseas credit card transactions last year were for purchases of fashion items (20.7 percent), medical services (13.9 percent), hotel and other accommodations (13.1 percent), retail merchandise (8.5 percent) and department store merchandise (8.1 percent).

Irwan said peak spending last year occurred in June and July as the months coincided with the long school holidays and the Idul Fitri celebrations.

'€œWe are optimistic that there will be about 20,000 to 30,000 new holders of UOB PRVI Miles this year,'€ he said.

The latest Visa Global Travel Intention Study in 2015 found that 73 percent of Indonesian travelers preferred using payment cards in the booking stage and 54 percent of them favored credit cards across all merchants.

'€œThe UOB PRVI Miles Credit Card is ideal for travelers as it offers cardholders the security and reliability of Visa'€™s trusted brand,'€ Visa Worldwide Indonesia president director Ellyana Fuad said.