Three Umrah travel organizers signed a cooperation agreement with Bank Syariah Indonesia to implement an escrow account on the sidelines of the International Islamic Expo 2026 in Jakarta.
Kias Travel, Arfa Tours, and Rahmah Travel were the parties that signed the agreement. Through the escrow system, pilgrims' funds will be managed by the bank as a third party and disbursed according to agreed service stages.
The move comes after previous Umrah fraud cases, including First Travel which harmed more than 63,000 pilgrims with losses of Rp900 billion and Hanania Travel which affected 2,500 pilgrims with alleged losses of Rp100 billion.
Some industry players expressed concern that rigid implementation of escrow could disrupt company cash flow because operational costs such as tickets and hotels must be paid upfront.
