Nusa Penida to become a world financial center

[ronb]

A quote from bali Discovery

Explaining his desire for Bali’s tiny off-shore island of Nusa Penida to become a world financial center, Arief Yahya explained: “Just try to Google this, the top industry is not tourism, but financial services. Financial services include banking, securities and insurance. As an example, look at Dubai where financial services are number one and tourism is number two. I want Bali to be like this, for instance using Nusa Penida.”

Nusa Penida only got its first ATMs recently, the Internet connectivity is poor, the standard of accommodation would hardly suit financial high-fliers, and access to Ngurah Rai airport is not overly convenient. What the hell is he thinking about? Why not think of places like Surabaya, Bandung or Makassar?

The full story: Bali News: Nusa Penida: The Next Channel Islands?

 

[Markit]

I read this and thought (as I do with most of the recent government offerings) he must have confiscated a load of drugs from somewhere and be knee-deep into smoking/inhaling/injecting it.

Absolute lunacy - the only thing Bali/Nusa Whatever has in common with the Channel Islands is ... they are islands. Other than that, nothing at all.

Lunacy - it's actually quite scary how far away from reality this government seems to be.

 

[spicyayam]

So funny. Sounds like an Indonesian version of the Onion.

You can't even withdraw money from Bali without a high chance of having your account skimmed.

 

[Markit]

You can't even withdraw money from Bali without a high chance of having your account skimmed.

How so?

 

[matsaleh]

I've seen several reports on Facebook of people not being able to withdraw money from ATMs using International cards in the past 2 days. Lots of speculation that Australian banks (in particular) are blocking access to Indonesian ATMs, because of the increase in skimming.

 

[Markit]

Ahhh Matty the one woman on the forum, with more balls than the rest of us put together, answers to all our silly questions and .... she pays for the beers.

Damned near perfection.

 

[spicyayam]

I have read a couple of posts also, one from NAB (National Australia Bank) where someone was unable to withdraw money. There are almost daily reports on FB of people having their account hijacked after using an ATM. Some spots seem to be worse, especially ATMs that are in supermarkets.

Some people say it happens all over the world, but it certainly seems like Bali is being targetted. Police don't seem to be doing anything.

My point was how can Bali become any kind of "financial center" when they cannot even control the most basic service of being able to withdraw money.

 

[bakung]

So funny. Sounds like an Indonesian version of the Onion.

You can't even withdraw money from Bali without a high chance of having your account skimmed.

I had the problem 2 days ago in Kuta Square, tried twice to withdraw and said sorry we cant process etc, so with steam coming out of all orifices screamed the car home and straight onto the phone to my Halifax bank in uk and after push button 1 push 4 push 5 got a weary soul on the other end ( was 1am UK time ) and without giving him a chance i went into a rant bout how i was left high an dry with no money in a foreign country far from home and not even enough to buy a breakfast ( how is he gonna know i live here ) because their stupid banking system is sheet etc and i am going to move all my money to another bank etc, poor soul never got a word in till i run out of breath then he said in a nice calm voice Sir if i may explain your card expiry date was july 2015 and you should have received a new one please hold till i check it was sent out ?, phone went straight under the dog after kicking it, thank feck it was on the phone and not in a branch at home, so the rule is check expiry date before opening big Scottish gob, lesson learned.

 

[Nydave]

Some of us have discussed something similar to this recently on a different thread,i gave my own personal experiences of my card not being accepted in indo,my card is a Us card,so I will explain once again,i know that here in Usa they always over react to things and very rarely notify us of their policy,a couple of years ago I used my card one time in Bali to get some cash,i needed maybe 5 million Rp so I had to use the card a couple of times within a couple of minutes cause the max allowed from the atm didn't cover what I needed,it resulted in my card being locked,in fact locked so bad they wouldn't honor it back in Usa a week later,they had to issue a new card

The problem was that if you are travelling outside the Usa and will use your card abroad,you have to go into your bank,sit down with one of those people behind a desk (not a bank teller)and explain to them when you will leave the Usa and for how long you will be away,also what countrys you think you might use your card in,they are supposed to programme that into the system in order for your card to work when you are travelling,,

My problem back then was that I didn't know I was supposed to do this as the bank doesn't tell their customers their rules and regulations,

I have no idea how Australian banking systems work but perhaps they are now doing something similar,especially if they have realized that cards are being skimmed in Indo

Im thinking now because cards are being skimmed it might be an idea to go to your bank before leaving home and tell them you will be travelling and will use your card,it might also be possible to transfer some money from your main account into a different account and get a new card solely for the purpose of travelling,,explain to your bank what and why you are doing this,transfer only what you think you might need,but also make arrangements with the bank that if need be you will be able to contact them and have them transfer another amount of your choice into your travelling account/card from your main account if you run short of cash,i have no idea if this would work or indeed if its possible to do,in theory it sounds good, if its possible at least your main account cant be hacked or skimmed only your travelling one can,sort of like investing ,,,invest only what you are prepared to lose,transfer only what you are prepared to lose,

Hey it just might be possible ??

 

[Markit]

NyDave I lost the will to live about half way through your really, really complicated explanation - it's beero'clock here now.

FYI the rest of the world have been informing their banks before traveling now for about a decade.

American is very sweet, retro, but sweet. If they just wouldn't shoot everyone so often...

 

[Steve Rossell]

I have just 2 days ago resolved a similar problem with my Australian Bank after 8 days of being unable to make withdrawals from ATM's in Bali. They, however didn't deem it a requirement to notify me via the secure email facility available on my internet banking access!!! WTF.
After nearly an hour on the phone to Oz the only info' I could be told was that the card "automatically cancelled" after notification from the Australian Federal Police to the banks fraud department. When and where did this happen and why wasn't I notified? I was told that the Fed' Police were looking into it and could only get a date from them as to when this might have happened. 21st Sept. A new card is on the way but it all sounded a little fishy. A security breach 4 days before I was cut off without notification. A full 7 days before I was aware that there was an issue at all and I am still unaware as to the location of the "possible skimming" which means that I can't avoid any particular ATM.
When I checked my accounts online I discovered that I had not used my card 3 days prior to and including the day of alleged "possible skimming" and not for 3 days after. There has been no funds illegally withdrawan from my accounts.
Skimming has been going on for a long time now in Oz and my practice has always been to check for fake card receptacles and always cover one hand with the other before entering my PIN, a practice that I took particular care to continue in Bali this last 3 months having previously made aware of ATM scams on the rise here. I had also personally alerted my local bank manager in Oz of the date I would be leaving Oz for an extended stay in Bali and the date of my possible return 12 months later but still got cut off after 3 weeks here and after a couple of secure emails, back and forth, it was resolved and an extra notification was placed on my accounts so this is not a notification issue.
I had thought I may have been just another "possible skimming" victim until I saw the postings on this thread.
Methinks there may be something more sinister at play but that's okay because I'm told that the Australian Federal Police are handling the investigations.
Am I expecting an explanation or updates from them if it is resolved? Not on your nelly.

 

[Normy]

The problems experienced using foreign cards in Indonesian highlights the advantages of obtaining an account with an Indonesian bank for use in Indonesia.

 

[ronb]

I have pondered why it seems to be that the skimmers are targeting cards from foreign banks. Their skimming methods would work equally well for local banks. I think it is simply that the average balance in the accounts associated with the foreign cards is much, much higher than local accounts. They go to some trouble to try withdrawals on the skimmed card, they have to make plastic card copy, they have to interpret the fuzzy video that reveals the PIN, etc. They get info on many cards, more than they can use, so it makes sense to use strategies that home in on more lucrative accounts.