Bank Indonesia (BI) says it is working on a cross-border QR code payment linkage with South Korea as it finalizes links with Singapore this year.
QRIS (Quick Response Code Indonesian Standard) is a national standard for QR code payments that was launched by BI in 2019 to unify various QR code schemes from different payment service providers.
Earlier this month, Indonesia officially established a cross-border QR code payment link with Malaysia, allowing Indonesians to use their local e-payment apps for transactions in Malaysia, and vice versa.
“No need to exchange [rupiah] to ringgit. Just scan [a QR code], and it will be debited from your rupiah account. It’s direct and the exchange rate is better,” BI Deputy Governor Filianingsih Hendarta said during a press conference last week.
“With Singapore, right now we are developing the technical side, and we are doing it gradually.
“Hopefully before the end of the year, it will be established with Singapore.”
Filianingsih went on to say that BI is currently in various stages of talks with Japan, South Korea, China and India to establish cross-border QR code payment systems. In the case of South Korea, she said BI Governor Perry Warjiyo recently signed a collaboration agreement with Bank of Korea, which will likely involve QR payment cooperation in the future.
Other countries BI mentioned in the past include the Philippines, which would be part of the central bank’s efforts to promote digitalization and regional integration.
