#tcashtap

In Indonesia, there are 3 big mobile phone companies: Telkomsel, XL and Indosat. There are some others like Smartfren and Tri.

I’ve been using Telkomsel and I feel like writing about one of its products: T-Cash, in particular T-Cash Tap. It’s not new, but I’ve just used it since August this year.

The very reason I decided to use it was because on Indonesia’s independence day (August 17) this year, there was a promotion of 17k rupiah for some books bought in gramedia (the biggest bookstore in Indonesia) online store paid using T-Cash. So, I browsed about it and realized I had heard about it before and I had wanted to try it but never had a chance to do it.

So, T-Cash is basically like a bank account in your Telkomsel mobile phone number. It’s a product of Telkomsel, thus it’s exclusively for Telkomsel users only. You register your Telkomsel number for T-Cash and you can deposit your money inside it (they call it cash-in). And you can use your T-Cash to pay stuff you buy at merchants which have collaborated with T-Cash. So, it’s real money (they call it e-money) and it’s different from the credit on your mobile phone which you use for phone calls, text messages or internet connection (cellular data).

And to use T-Cash to pay at some merchants, you need T-Cash Tap, which is a coin-shaped sticker which you can get in Telkomsel office (they call it Grapari) and which you stick behind your mobile phone. When you want to use it to pay, just tap the T-Cash Tap into the machine in the merchant store, type your 6-digit PIN number and your transaction is done! Your e-money will decrease after each transaction.

When I bought some books from gramedia online store, I didn’t need the Tap because it was online shopping, but I needed a token to finalize my transaction.

So far, I have used T-Cash Tap in some XXI cinemas in Jakarta (15k rupiah every Monday), Coffee Bean (50% discount every Monday), Wendy’s (50% discount every Wednesday), BaskinRobbins (50% discount every Friday), and McDonald’s (20% discount every day). And for T-Cash without Tap, I’ve used it to pay gramedia online store, to buy credit for my and my friend’s Telkomsel mobile phone numbers, and to pay my mom’s home phone bill once.

And to cash-in my T-Cash, so far I’ve done it in Grapari and Indomaret (a chain of minimarket in Indonesia).

Besides T-Cash, I just registered Rekening Ponsel Niaga last week. It’s a bank account where your account number is your mobile phone number. Unlike T-Cash, though, it’s not exclusively for Telkomsel users only, meaning the users of all mobile phone companies in Indonesia can register if they want to. And as the name (Rekening Ponsel Niaga) suggests, it is a product of CIMB Niaga bank. So, if you want to register, you have to do it in one of the offices of CIMB Niaga bank.

I registered in its Digital Lounge in Mall Bali Galeria when I was meeting one of my Balinese best friends there. It was a pretty simple procedure. I just filled out a form, gave a copy of my ID card and that was it. I deposited some money through the ATM there even though I didn’t own a CIMB Niaga ATM card. If I want to take some money from my mobile phone bank account, I can do it in the ATM too, without CIMB Niaga ATM card either. That’s the difference between T-Cash and Rekening Ponsel Niaga. I have yet to cash-out from both, but for T-Cash, as far as I know, if I want to take some money from my T-Cash, I have to go to Grapari. At least with Rekening Ponsel Niaga, I know I can do it easily in its ATM.

There’s a catch, though. What I don’t really like about Rekening Ponsel Niaga is the fact that it deducts your credit from your mobile phone every time you want to do a transaction. Even if I just want to check my balance, I will get charged 550 rupiah twice, first to send the message to ask for the balance, and second to receive the message about the balance.

To use Rekening Ponsel Niaga to pay for a transaction, you will need to make a coupon (which will get you charged 550 rupiah at least twice). I have yet to use Rekening Ponsel Niaga to pay for something. I wanted to try to use it to pay for a ticket in Cinemaxx because you can get free drink if you pay your ticket in Cinemaxx using Rekening Ponsel Niaga. But I just bought 18 vouchers of Cinemaxx in Mataharimall.com, so maybe I won’t use Rekening Ponsel Niaga in the near future.

Besides cashing-in my Rekening Ponsel Niaga in a CIMB Niaga ATM, I have done it in Alfamart (another chain of minimarket in Indonesia), which was also a pretty easy thing to do.

Other mobile phone companies in Indonesia that I mentioned (XL or Indosat) also have their own e-money products, and other banks in Indonesia like Bank Mandiri or BRI also have their own mobile phone bank account products, but for now, I’m fine with T-Cash and Rekening Ponsel Niaga.