(Photo Courtesy : Kompas)
JAKARTA (The Insider Stories) - Consortium bank under State Banks Association (HIMBARA) in talks with PT Telkom Indonesia Tbk (IDX: TLKM) and PT Indosat Tbk (IDX: ISAT) to acquire one service provider to operate joint automatic teller machine (ATM). The move is taken after President Joko Widodo previously asked the state banks to link their ATMs to make their operational cost more efficient and help their expansion more aggressively in the country.
Bank Indonesia (BI) has given a green light for the banks to invest in financial services provider company to support the activities of the banks through ‘Shader’ system by revising the rules of the National Payment Gateway (NPG).
NPG is a unification program or banking funds transfer system through the ATM network interconnection. The bank has two models to connect their ATM system by merger or seting up a holding company.
HIMBARA members are PT Bank Rakyat Indonesia Tbk (BBRI), PT Bank Mandiri Tbk (BMRI), PT Bank Negara Indonesia Tbk (BBNI) and PT Bank Tabungan Negara Tbk (BBTN). The four banks plan to launch new ATM link called Merah Putih by the end of this year.
Currently ATM providers in the country are PT Sigma Citra Caraka (LINK)-unit of public listed cellular operator PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia Tbk (TLM)- PT Artajasa Pembayaran Elektronis (ATM Bersama) and PT Rintis Sejahtera (PRIMA).
Bank Mandiri Finance Director Kartiko Wiroatmodjo told The Insider Stories, HIMBARA is now discussing with two operators Telkom, which is expected to take majority part through its unit Sigma Citra Caraka (Telkomsigma), and Indosat together with PT Aplikanusa Lintasarta, PT Multivisi Komputama and Yayasasan Kesejahteraan BI for Artjasa.
When asked by The Insider Stories over the planned acquisition, Indosat’s Director Joy Wahyudi confirmed that it is true that Indosat is in talks with HIMBARA to form a joint venture with Artha Jasa. Indosat wants to have 30 percent shares in the JV. While, Telkom’s director Indra Utoyo did not give any comment on the deal.
President & CEO Bank Mandiri Gudi Gunadi Sadikin added the bank has has appointed a financial consultant to assess the value of the companies starting this week. Chairman of HIMBARA Asmawi Sjam, previously said the acquisition is targeted to be completed by year-end.
Currently, there are 42,000 ATMs now in Indonesia and are mostly managed by the state banks. Telkomsigma has experience in the field of Information Technology services to the financial and banking industry for over 20 years. The company is trusted in managing HIMBARA ATM Switching system with over 22.000 ATM galleries across Indonesia. (*)