🧠 Food for thought

Implications, context, and why it matters.

The QR payment system runs on national standards and existing overseas links

• The service plugs into Indonesia’s Quick Response Code Indonesian Standard (QRIS), one national QR code that works across payment providers 1.
• It also uses QRIS links already running with Singapore and Malaysia. Thailand and Japan are also connected. BI says it aims to add eight partner countries for overseas payments 2.
• For wider financial ties, the two central banks renewed a bilateral currency swap of up to 10.7 trillion won (US$7.32 billion), or 115 trillion Indonesian rupiah, for five years 3.

The deal supports local-currency payment rails alongside global networks

• The central bank-run rail can handle some international payments without relying on private card schemes such as Visa or Mastercard. It does not replace them across the board.
• Transactions settle in local money under the Local Currency Transaction (LCT) framework, in place since September 2024. The central banks say this can cut use of the US dollar as an intermediary. They also expect lower foreign-exchange costs and transaction fees 4.
• Bank Indonesia calls QRIS a base for other digital financial services, including financing or investment. It links this to broader access for micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) 1.
• Indonesia is also working on QRIS connections with China or India. The Bank of Korea says it will push QR-based links to more Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) markets 2, 4.