Japan looks to integrate QR payments with SEA countries by 2025

A view of Shibuya Crossing in Tokyo / Photo credit: Takashi Images / Shutterstock

The Japanese government is reportedly in discussions with Southeast Asian countries about sharing QR code payment services. The potential linkages will let Southeast Asian travelers use their homegrown payment apps for transactions in Japan – and vice versa.

Should the plan proceed, implementation is expected to start by 2025. The talks involve bodies like Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry, as well as central banking authorities from Southeast Asian nations including Cambodia and Indonesia.

The Payments Japan Association, which runs the country’s QR code payment system known as JPQR, is already planning to build a new system that will link the current one to global payment providers by this year.

Such a move will be a continuation of a 2022 agreement where five ASEAN member states – Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines – agreed to create unified QR code payment systems. Thailand later became the first country to officially implement the system with Indonesia, followed by the latter’s integrations with Malaysia and Singapore.

In late 2022, Bank Indonesia – the country’s central bank – also signed a similar agreement with Japan. The deal involved integrating cross-border payments through the QR Code Indonesian Standard (QRIS) and the JPQR.

See also: Regional cross-border payments open new growth avenues for Indonesian fintech