Indonesian central bank: QR code tap hits 508,000 transactions

Bank Indonesia said transactions using QRIS Tap, a contactless payment feature, rose 1,200% month-on-month to 508,000 after its launch in October 2025.

QRIS Tap, which enables payments by tapping without scanning a QR code, is now available for transport in 14 Indonesian provinces, including Jakarta, West Java, and Bali.

Currently, the feature is only accessible on Android devices, with plans to expand support to iOS in the future.

The central bank reported that overall QRIS transaction volume jumped 143.6% year-on-year, driven by more users and merchants.

Bank Indonesia said there are now 42 million merchants using QRIS, with 90% from the micro, small, and medium enterprise (MSME) sector.

The bank has set a target of reaching 45 million merchants, 60 million users, and 17 billion QRIS transactions in 2026, along with expanding cross-border QRIS payments to eight countries.

🔗 Source: Republika

🧠 Food for thought

Implications, context, and why it matters.

QRIS Tap’s 1,200% surge comes from a tiny pilot base

October 2025 logged 508,000 QRIS Tap transactions, a sliver of Indonesia’s digital payments that reached 3.5 billion in January 2025 1, putting the feature near 0.01% of volume.
March 2025 pilots 1 covered 2,353 merchants, mostly transport like 12 Transjakarta buses and 120 Damri fleets 1 with some hospitals or parking lots, so 1,200% growth still meant about half a million taps.
The feature launched only on Android 1 in a market where many higher-income urban commuters use iOS, which narrowed the reachable base during this phase.

SoftPOS and SDK players can win MSMEs as BI pushes to 45 million merchants

Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) make up 90% of QRIS’s 42 million merchants. Bank Indonesia wants 45 million by 2026. That leaves about 3 million to win. Software point-of-sale (SoftPOS) apps turn phones into terminals and install within minutes 2. They remove upfront hardware costs, which fits these firms better than leases.
Android-only availability 1 gives third-party SoftPOS providers a short window to add QRIS Tap before Apple opens Near Field Communication on iOS. They can target 15 payment service providers (payments companies that handle processing plus merchant acquiring) already live with QRIS Tap and the other 242 that have not integrated 1.
Transport validators (the on-gate or on-vehicle devices that verify fares) are a clear opening with expansion slated for Mass Rapid Transit (MRT), Light Rail Transit (LRT) and commuter rail (KRL) plus Transjakarta by September 2025 1. Hardware vendors can ship NFC ticketing terminals, and software development kit (SDK) providers can embed transit modules to move past the current 134 transport merchants 1.