Noun

Singular alto

Plural altos

alto (plural altos)

1. musical part or section higher than tenor and lower than soprano. Originally called contratenor altus, high countertenor, the part that performed a countermelody above the tenor or main melody.
2. person or instrument that performs the alto part

ALTO is one of the interbank networks in Indonesia, founded on 1994. In 1984 the ATM was introduced to Indonesia providing cardholders with around the clock banking services for the first time. Within a few years many Indonesian banks had followed suite. The country's sole financial network provider at the time primarily serviced the central government, which prompted the formation of the ALTO shared network with the support of its founding members Bank Lippo, Bank Bali and Bank Internasional Indonesia. Utilizing methods and technologies similar to those employed by global giants MasterCard and Visa; ALTO finalized its structure and process 1993 and began commercial operations in August of the following year with approximately 180 ATM's plugged into its network. In September of 1994 a banker's conference was convened to introduce the network to local industry leaders. The response was tremendous and within a year, ALTO took on an additional 11 members bringing the total number of member banks to 14. The Asian economic crisis of 1997 hit the banking industry with a vengeance forcing many financial institutions to close their doors, merge, or be recapitalized. Yet despite the global recession ALTO retained 9 of its 14 member banks, remained profitable and today is an industry leader with assets totaling IDR 40.8 billion (as per December 2001).

Members

• Bank Artha Graha
• Bank Bukopin
• Bank Danamon
• Bank Ekonomi
• Bank Haga
• Bank Hana
• Bank Harda
• Bank International Indonesia
• Bank Nusantara Parahyangan
• Bank Panin
• Bank Permata
• Bank UOB Buana
• BPR Eka Bumi Artha
• Citibank Indonesia