Indonesian credit-card holders reach 14.5 million

Credit cards issued in Indonesia increased to 14.58 million in February from 13.8 million over the corresponding period last year.

These came from 19 commercial banks and one Islamic bank, according to the central bank.

Bank Indonesia’s payment system supervisory team chief, Puji Atmoko, said that credit-card transactions in Indonesia totaled Rp 15.14 trillion or US$1.65 billion in February with an average of 588 transactions worth Rp 522.22 billion taking place each day, up from an average of 578 transactions amounting to Rp 474.48 billion per day in February 2011.

One of the banks that has enjoyed the rapid growth, Bank Negara Indonesia, issued 1.8 million credit cards by March of this year, an increase of 28 percent from March 2011. Its credit card transactions reached Rp 5.2 trillion by March, a rise of 41 percent compared to March last year.

BNI’s credit card general manager, Dodit Wiweko Probojakti, said the growth in the number of its credit-card holders had exceeded the growth rate of the credit-card industry in Indonesia, which stands at 9 percent.

“We are aiming to issue 2 million credit cards by the end of this year,” Dodit said as quoted by kompas.com on Monday, citing that the bank aimed to reach Rp 18 trillion in credit-card transactions by the end of the year.

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