well I eventually got it done in the third branch. You have to kind of be aware of what they want, i.e. more than what they say online, which is just KITAS/KITAP - I had a surat domisili, and they asked lots of questions like global net worth. Also it's probably best not to tell them you want to stick 1M in immediately or whatever. Also probably best not just before closing as it takes a while.
I got a Mastercard debit card & a pointless Indonesian domestic payment card because the government says so.
FWIW, the exchange rates:
USD +-0.25%
SGD +-0.35%
AUD +-0.66%
EUR +-0.50%
JPY +-0.80%
HKD +-0.55%
CAD +-0.58%
GBP +-0.61%
CHF +-0.50%
CNH +-1.74% (!!!)
NZD +-0.73%
These exchange rates can certainly be beat (e.g., Panin is ~+-0.25% for GB£ or SG$, and 0.1% for US$), but they are mostly not ludicrously set-fire-to-your-money-like-an-idiot bad like HSBC, which will nab +-2.1% even for US$. I believe you can transfer to another account in the same currency at a different bank in Indonesia.
I imagine that the spreads will stay fairly or entirely constant.
It does cost 100,000 rp in effect to open the account, I am not yet clear if each currency you use incurs a similar fee (10US$/EUR/GBP/CHF, 20AUD/SGD) or if this only applies to the main account.
Interest rates currently:
HK$, GB£, C$, NZ$, EUR, JPY: 0
US$/A$: 0.25% above $10k, 0.5% above $100k
SG$: 0.1%
CNH: 0.5%
I am currently trying to locate my IBAN....