Indonesian Hajj Pilgrims To Rely on Way4 Switch For ATM Cash Withdrawals
Jakarta, 30 October 2019
Over one million Indonesians who travel to Saudi Arabia mainly for religious reasons will be able to withdraw cash with a minimal fee and the preferable exchange rate at any ATM of Al-Rajhi Bank. The bank manages over 4,700 ATMs, the largest network in Saudi Arabia.
This new ATM service will be implemented by OpenWay, a recognized leader in digital payments software, in partnership with Mardhika Citra Prima (MCP), an IT services provider for Al-Rajhi Bank Malaysia.
The new withdrawal service is called Musafir Card Project and target to capture Indonesian pilgrims who travel to Saudi Arabia for Hajj and Umrah. Indonesia is the most populous Muslim country in the world, and over one million visitors are expected to go to the religious sites in The Kingdom in 2019. To use Musafir Card service, an Indonesian citizen will simply register their existing debit card for the service in the issuer’s branch. The service will be valid for the duration period of the visa. When visiting Saudi Arabia, travelers can get cash or inquire their card balance at any ATM of the Al-Rajhi network without overpayment.
The Musafir Card service will be cheaper for cardholders because the cross-border ATM transaction will go through a closed-loop interbank network. The transaction will be routed by Al-Rajhi Bank to its subsidiary in Malaysia, and from there directly to the card issuer in Indonesia, via Artajasa, a local Indonesian interbank network. This way, the payment solution will connect three counties: Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, and Indonesia. Cross-border transaction routing between Al-Rajhi Bank Malaysia and Artajasa will be handled by WAY4 Switch, a technology solution by OpenWay.
Way4 Switch is a universal payment hub software that orchestrates channels and systems online. It is used globally by payment processors, national switches, and payment gateways to facilitate local and cross-border real-time payments in a cost-efficient way. The system handles both card, e-money and alternative payment methods. It allows payment companies to launch multi-currency services based on dynamic pricing and enables comprehensive settlement schemes between parties. Some of the installations process up to 3,700 transactions per second and 34 million transactions per day.
“We believe that the new service will remove the anxiety and uneasiness that some travelers, especially first-time travelers, may feel when using a card at the foreign ATM. Sometimes cash withdrawals can be expensive because of the hidden fees and unfavorable exchange rate. We want to protect the Indonesian cardholders from this by providing a solution that brings easiness into the ATM experience in Saudi Arabia. The partnership with Al-Rajhi Bank and OpenWay will make it happen,” – says Irene Yulie Trisharyani, Director, MCP.
“At OpenWay, our main goal is to help financial companies around the globe make payments simple and convenient. The Musafir Card project fits our vision perfectly. We are proud to be a part of this initiative. The WAY4 technology is designed for high-volume transaction processing and was already proven by the leading payment companies in Indonesia and beyond,” - comments Rudy Gunawan, Managing Director at OpenWay Asia.
This Musafir Card Project is part of a broader MCP’s initiative called “The Musafir Projects” that is focusing on the support of the economic exchange between Indonesia and Malaysia. The next joint project of MCP and OpenWay – Merchant Cross-Border – will enable migrants, merchants and tourists in both countries to pay for goods and services in a foreign country easier. The Indonesian visitors will be able to use their local digital wallets to shop in Malaysia and vice versa. The payments will be based on QRIS, the recently announced QR code standard in Indonesia.
OpenWay and MCP signing ceremony
About MCP
PT Mardhika Citra Prima (MCP) is an aggregator company based in Jakarta, Indonesia, servicing marketing and IT solutions for Al-Rajhi Bank Malaysia (ARBM) to capture Indonesian market specifically for Moslem communities across the country.
In relation to Musafir project, MCP shall act as exclusive partner for ARBM. With this relation, MCP is acting as technical enabler, helping ARBM to build IT solutions including the connectivity needed from Indonesia to Malaysia.
MCP has responsibility to initiate, engage and collaborate with the partners on behalf of ARBM. MCP has to ensure all partners of ARBM to utilize the developed platform and to serve the moslem community in Indonesia with the financial services based on Sharia law.