After long rumor and planning (as I wrote in Teknolagi), you may notice that more and more fuel gas station in Jakarta (may be other cities in Indonesia) and suburbs are equipped with BCA EDC, BCA Flazz, and Bank Mandiri - Pertamina GazCard. Flazz and GazCard are contact-less smartcard, which just have to tap card into the reader and you balance will be transferred to seller in less than a minute. So you don’t have to pay with cash to buy fuel. You have many options now: your Visa / Mastercard Credit card (surcharge 2%), BCA Flazz (no surcharge) and Pertamina GazCard (also no surcharge/fee).
Despite not utilized and not many people knowing and using this kind of transaction, I am pretty sure this will be a hit starting from next year. Which one you prefer: GazCard or Flazz?
GazCard is sold with co-branding with Bank Mandiri, is limited use only at fuel station. You couldn’t find other stores accepting this kind of prepaid card. And it is a bit hard to top-up its balance since you have to go to SPBU / Fuel station to do it. So I think not flexible enough if this card is not accepted anywhere else.
In the other hand, Bank Central Asia promotes Flazz Card aggressively these days. Easily can you find BCA stands in malls offering you BCA Flazz promotion (remember the spelling: not Flash). And you know BCA, its vast network and technology. You can find a lot of stores accepting FlazzCard, such as: Hoka-Hoka Bento, Starbucks, KFC, Indomaret, and may more. So you know that this card will exist for longer time. Have you ever heard of JakCard issued by Bank DKI for Busway Ride? its in half-dead now because small network and lack of publications.
So I prefer BCA Flazz for its vast network, but actually I will more support 3rd independent company approved by government instead of single bank entity. That will ensure single adoption and use in public transportation as legal payment. Just think that you can ride TransJakarta Busway with this kind of card, paying food, paying toll-road fee / freeway, and monorail (in development). Offering different card just confusing people and in the end all will dead if no dominant player wins.
Just learn from successful implementation in Singapore (ez-Link Card), Hong Kong with Octopus Card, and London with Oyster Card. All issued by local government or a 3rd party company setup by government, not a banking institution to avoid monopoly.
Synopsis (a bit spoiler): The nineteenth century was an era of conflict: the Franco-Prussian War and the establishment of the German Empire in Europe; the Civil War in America; the Meiji Restoration in Japan; the Opium War in China followed by the Taiping Rebellion in Nanjing… all critical events that shaped the world today. At times of chaos, heroes are born yet innocence is forever lost…
