US VA Transfer

Keep a bank account in the US for direct deposit of your benefits and you can access your funds here via your bank card.   

Like all banks, banks in Indonesia charge a fee for everything.  They nickel and dime you to death as all banks do.

This has nothing to do with bank charges or fees.  Rather it has everything to do with the unwillingness, or inability of US governmental agencies being able to transfer funds on behalf of their citizens into foreign bank accounts, unless that bank is also a US bank.

Money laundering concerns...tax avoidance concerns, or simple concerns regarding bank security...take your pick. 

And btw...bank charges in Indonesia are a small fraction of what banks in the US charge.  Try making a wire transfer if you don't believe me. I could "wax poetic" on this reality all day long.   

Ubudian is correct.  In addition, if the US Govt does send your pension check to an Indonesian bank, they will send you a post card every six months which you must sign and return within 30 days (of the date they send it out) or they will assume you are dead and all future payments will cease until you prove yourself alive and well to their satisfaction.  Best to make your direct deposits to a bank in the US.