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rivate lender Bank Central Asia (BCA) expects the electronic payment trend in the transportation sector to boost demand for its prepaid cards.

The publicly listed bank is reporting significant usage of its prepaid card Flazz for transportation services.

BCA consumer card head Santoso said 60 to 70 percent of transactions using the electronic money (e-money) card were for such services, specifically for paying toll road and parking fees as well as fares for TransJakarta buses and Jakarta commuter trains operated by KAI Commuter Jabodetabek.

“That’s quite a big number, and we predict the transportation sector to continue to dominate our prepaid transactions,” he said after a launching event on Thursday. Santoso said the number of Flazz cards reached 8.5 million last year, increasing by 32.8 percent from 6.4 million a year earlier.

The prepaid card’s transaction value grew by 50 percent year-on-year (yoy) to Rp 870 billion (US$66.12 million), with transaction volume jumping by 120 percent yoy.

He said the contribution from the transportation sector would be higher if the government initiated measures to promote synergy between state-owned and private banks on electronic payments for public utilities.

“We are open and will wait for the invitation. We uphold a principle to avoid being exclusive in our business if it is for the sake of public service,” he said.

He added that BCA had repeatedly discussed collaboration on electronic toll road payments with state-owned banks, namely Bank Negara Indonesia (BNI), Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI) and Bank Mandiri.

Herry T. Zuna, head of the Public Works and Public Housing Ministry’s toll road agency, said the agency fully supported the integration of electronic toll road payments between state-owned and private banks, adding that all toll gates in the country should accept non-cash payments by the end of this year.

Recently, state-run lenders in the Association of State-Owned Banks (Himbara) joined state-owned toll road operator Jasa Marga in launching an integrated electronic toll-road payment system, allowing drivers to pay via prepaid cards issued by the four banks.

In a move to increase its penetration in the transportation sector, BCA on Thursday launched electronic payments using its Flazz card for the Cikopo-Palimanan (Cipali) toll road in West Java in cooperation with toll road operator Lintas Marga Sedaya, an Indonesian-Malaysian joint venture.

The Flazz card can also be used on three other toll roads, namely one in Makassar, South Sulawesi, as well as the Surabaya-Gresik and Waru-Juanda roads in East Java.

Customers of private banks OCBC NISP and Danamon and regional development lenders of Yogyakarta (BPD DIY), East Java (Bank Jatim) and West Kalimantan (Bank Kalbar) can also use co-branded Flazz cards.

Santoso said BCA was expecting that Flazz cards would be used for at least 5 percent of the average 35,000 cars passing daily through Cipali toll gates.

Lintas Marga Sedaya vice president director Hudaya Arryanto said BCA’s Flazz was the first prepaid card used for electronic payments on the company’s toll roads, but added that the system was open to other banks wishing to join as well.