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nxiety among banks is building up as a deadline draws closer regarding the tax office’s plan to collect data on credit card transactions.

The government’s announcement of the plan in March caught many by surprise.

The data collection will be carried out monthly and will officially begin on May 31, as stated in Finance Minister Regulation (PMK) No. 39 of 2016.

The declared goal is as simple as improving the ministry’s tax database, the logic being that people’s expenditure should match their tax reports.

However, banks have claimed that the measure hurts their business, especially because the Taxation Directorate General has provided little information about the plan.

The Indonesian Credit Card Association (AKKI), which counts 22 banks and one financial services firm among its members, said there were mixed perceptions and many questions raised by credit card users.

“‘Are we in for heavy punishment [from the tax office]?’ ‘Will my personal transactions be published?’ We get many questions like that now,” AKKI general manager Steve Marta said at a discussion on Wednesday.

Steve said some banks had already reported worsening business as customers were reducing their credit card transactions or even closing their credit card accounts.

Data from Bank Indonesia (BI) show that both the volume and value of credit card transactions declined after the announcement was made.

The volume fell to 23.68 million transactions in April from 25.84 million in March, while the value dropped to Rp 22.15 trillion (US$1.63 billion) from Rp 24.77 trillion during the same period. According to the AKKI, those months normally see rising transactions.

“Scaling down transactions won’t make any difference because what the government is asking for is data since January 2015, but customers do not know that, due to a lack of proper information,” Steve said.

Private lender Bank Mega is one bank that has reported a declining credit card business. Dodit Wiweko Probojakti, its credit card and personal loan director, said that its sales volume usually grew between 10 percent and 15 percent on an annual basis.

“But in April, it dropped 5 percent,” he said.

Mega expects the data collection policy to continue to impact its operations in the next three months.

Other lenders, such as Bank Central Asia (BCA) and Bank Negara Indonesia (BNI), have reported similar cases of falling transactions and card account closures as well.

Meanwhile, the tax office’s director for tax obedience, Yon Arsal, said at the same discussion that his office was ready to collect data from banks, adding that it would safeguard the confidentiality of cardholders’ data.

“Basically, cardholders do not have to worry if they comply with the regulations,” Yon said.

He tried to alleviate the banks’ uneasiness by saying that the data collection was merely an effort by the government to finance the country’s development, particularly in remote areas. (adt)