JAKARTA, Indonesia and LONG BEACH, N.Y., Dec. 11, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- PT Bank Central Asia Tbk (IDX:BBCA), one of the leading commercial banks in Indonesia, and Planet Payment, Inc. (Nasdaq: PLPM ) (LSE: PPT ), a leading international and multi-currency payment processor, today announced the launch of Planet Payment's Pay in Your Currency® service to BCA's portfolio of merchants across Indonesia.
Pay in Your Currency can offer significant benefits to BCA's merchants and their customers. With Pay in Your Currency, eligible customers are offered the convenience of paying in their home currency at the point-of-sale. The customers are handed a receipt which shows the transaction amounts in Indonesian Rupiah and their home currency, together with the exchange rate and other service details. The customer then makes their currency choice on the receipt. With Pay in Your Currency, international travelers can enjoy a more comfortable shopping experience by knowing what they are paying in their home currency, while simultaneously providing the merchant with an opportunity to reduce the processing costs incurred on these transactions.
Tourism is an important component of the Indonesian economy and the levels of inbound international travel have been steadily increasing over the past several years. In 2010, a total of 7 million international travelers visited Indonesia, increasing 9% in 2011 to 7.65 million visitors (Indonesia Central Statistics Bureau). In 2012, 8 million international travelers visited Indonesia and the upward trend is expected to continue in 2013 to a projected 8.5 to 9 million visitors (Travel Daily News, 4 January 2013). Pay in Your Currency allows BCA's merchants to provide enhanced customer service to this important customer segment.
"Many of our merchants, including those in the hospitality, restaurant and retail sectors, count on international customers for a significant portion of their business," said Santoso, Senior General Manager of BCA. "We believe that Pay in Your Currency is an important addition to our suite of products and will allow our merchants to better serve their international clientele by delivering a more comfortable and convenient shopping experience."
"Planet Payment is excited to partner with BCA to deliver our Pay in Your Currency solution to the dynamic Indonesian market," said Philip Beck, Chairman and CEO of Planet Payment. "Our goal is to provide solutions that transform credit card processing into a tool to drive sales and improve operational efficiencies and we look forward to working with BCA to rollout Pay in Your Currency to BCA's merchant portfolio."
About PT Bank Central Asia Tbk (as at 30th June 2013)
BCA is one of the leading commercial banks in Indonesia with a core focus on transaction banking business and providing loan facilities and solutions to the consumer, SME, commercial and corporate segments. By the end of June 2013, BCA had the privilege of providing services to more than 12 million customer accounts through its extensive network of 1,028 branches, 12,429 ATMs and hundreds of thousands of EDCs interlinked with its internet & mobile banking services.
About Planet Payment
Planet Payment is a leading provider of international payment and transaction processing and multi-currency processing services. We provide our services in 22 countries and territories across the Asia Pacific region, North America, the Middle East, Africa and Europe, primarily through our more than 60 acquiring bank and processor customers. Our point-of-sale and e-commerce services help merchants sell more goods and services to consumers, and together with our ATM services are integrated within the payment card transaction flow enabling our acquiring customers, their merchants and consumers to shop, pay, transact and reconcile payment transactions in multiple currencies, geographies and channels.
Planet Payment is headquartered in New York and has offices in Atlanta, Beijing, Bermuda, Delaware, Dubai, Dublin, London, Hong Kong, Mexico City, Shanghai and Singapore. Visit www.planetpayment.com for more information about the Company and its services. For up-to-date information follow Planet Payment on Twitter at @PlanetPayment or join Planet Payment's Facebook page.
Media Contacts Planet Payment Contact: Joel Mayer Telephone: +1.516.670.3200 Email: www.planetpayment.com Redleaf Polhill (UK PR for Planet Payment) Contacts: Emma Kane / Rebecca Sanders-Hewett / David Ison Telephone: +44.20.7382.4730 Email: ICR (US IR for Planet Payment) Contacts: Don Duffy / Dara Dierks Telephone: +1.646.277.1212
