Question - whats a BPR ? The 2M deposit sounds a great idea.
This is a partial and updated paste of something I wrote years ago in another forum:
In Indonesia you have two types of bank :
- Bank Umum which are commonly called Commercial Bank in English.
- Bank Perkreditan Rakyat (BPR) which are commonly called Rural Bank in English
Those banks do not have the same role and do not enjoy the same freedom, nor they have the same authorization granted by Bank Indonesia.
Commercial bank, operate in much more sectors than rural bank and therefore are more controlled by Bank of Indonesia and the Lembaga Penjaminan Simpanan (Indonesia Deposit Insurance Corporation). The latter is the organism which guarantee the customer's deposit in banks and pay (part of) the bill in case of a failure. Needless to say that they keep an eye on what is going on.
As per today (September 11th, 2016), Bank Umum are authorized to propose term deposits with interest up to 6,75%. This is the maximum they are authorized to give to keep your term deposit insured and safe (again, as per today). This maximum rate of 6,75% is called the Tingkat bunga yang wajar or Maximum Insured Interest Rate for the English denomination.
Among those bank umum who would strictly stick to the Bank Indonesia regulation and the LPS policy, are the most prominent one: Mandiri, BCA, BRI, BNI, CIMB Niaga, or bank such as HSBC, UOB, Citibank...etc.
Do not expect any of them to breach the agreement they have with BI and LPS. They will serve you an interest rate of perhaps 6% to 6,50%, depending on the amount you intend to invest and the length you want it to be blocked and at the maximum and for their most valued nasabah, 6,75%. However they will be able to provide you a lot of quality services such as internet banking, credit card, premium account facilities, overseas transfer (with money arriving or being received without hassles or headaches), hard currency denomination account...etc.
Then, still in the bank umum category, you have a few banks such as Bukopin, Panin, Danamon, Bank Mega, Permata and a few others who may accept to serve you, in contradiction with the Bank Indonesia regulation, an interest rate above the 6,75% or some gift or cash back allowing you to have more than what LPS would like you to get. Their services do not match the one of the bank cited in the above paragraph, but are still good for everyday banking. You can negotiate with them special rates for any large amount. In the past I managed to have some pretty good deal with some of these banks, allowing me to get an extra 2% or so above the Tingkat bunga yang wajar authorized for Bank Umum.
But the real good deal is not to be found in all these Commercial banks described above. You should investigate Rural Banks (Bank Perkreditan Rakyat) if you are just looking for high interest rate with no or almost no service (no credit or debit card...etc).
I have a deal with two such banks in my region which pays me 9,25% interest rate and still offers me the full guaranty of LPS up to 2 milyar. Bank Perkreditan Rakyat are authorized to pay interest up to 9,25% (again the tingkat bunga yang wajar valid for BPR in September 2016) where bank umum can't exceed the 6,75% mark. That's something you should know.
However, these two BPR I have term deposits in have some inconvenient: they have no branches outside Sulawesi Utara, I have no credit or debit card and therefore me money is only available during banking hours at the counter. However, they also pay me an incredible 7% on my current account. Though my initial term deposit was set on a 6 months term, I now enjoy the privilege to be able to open term deposits of any amount with the same 9,25% rate with a 1 month term only.
Some Bank Perkreditan Rakyat may propose you interest above the Tingkat Bunga yang Wajar they are authorized to pay. I would advise you to be very cautious with it.
The Tingkat bunga yang wajar I've been giving in this post (ie 6,75% for bank umum and 9,25% for bank perkreditan rakyat) are the one effective for the period until September 14th 2016. They may be revised after this date, though I doubt it will change for now. However, I believe that it will go slightly down in the future and it is the reason why I've tied to a 12 month period most of my term deposits in BPR.
Last, if it wouldn't be cautious to accept an interest rate above the tingkat bunga yang wajar, be aware that any gift you would negotiate with the bank on top of the interest serve would NOT affect the guarantee of your term deposit in case of a bank failure. In the past I have negotiated Gold with them and got offered up to 5g of Gold for each 100 millions invested in 12 months term deposit. This is normally a deal which concern only "fresh money" (new term deposit) but you can easily have it extended to current term deposit you own when they come to term by threatening to withdraw the whole thing. Remember, you deal with bankers. No pity or shame to have.
Nowadays, I get less than the 5g of gold / 100 juta I was used to get but there are still room to slightly improve legally and in all security the maximum interest rate allowed by LPS. If I get less now than what I was used to get, it is more because I have become more lenient with my bankers than because of the economical situation and the possibility they have.
the brexit vote could have gone either way (polls were all over the place) and if remain had won the day you could have easily lost a similar amount based on circumstances that are completely outside you're control.
