What QRIS and BI Fast mean for Indonesia’s digital payments scene

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It boggles the mind to think about how far the payments scene in Southeast Asia has come. Some five or six years ago, cash was still king and the de facto mode of payment in places. Now, e-wallets and QR-based payments have become increasingly common.

Here in Singapore, the development of the PayNow funds transfer system has made it easier than ever to transact through digital platforms.

It’s also typical to see universal QR codes at businesses, which allow them to accept payments from a whole plethora of payment apps – whether it’s PayNow, GrabPay, FavePay, or one of the other e-wallets available in the city-state (there’s a lot).

This is happening as well in Indonesia, with the growing adoption of QRIS and BI Fast. The adoption of these systems has some interesting implications for the archipelago’s digital payments scene.

Today we look at:

• The impact of QRIS and BI Fast on the story of banks versus e-wallets
• A Bangladeshi ecommerce startup looking to raise some cash
• Other newsy highlights such as Binance calling off its FTX acquisition and Meta’s layoff plans

Premium summary

Banks versus e-wallets, fight!

Image credit: Timmy Loen

E-wallet players like Ovo, Dana, and GoPay first popularized digital payments in Indonesia, but new services such as QRIS and BI Fast are making it easier for traditional banks to get in on the action.

• Some background: QRIS is a QR code standard from Bank Indonesia that works across various e-wallets and banking apps. Meanwhile, BI Fast allows fund transfers from one bank to another using the recipient’s account details, mobile number, or email address.
• Changing things up: Traditional banks in Indonesia are seeing QRIS and BI Fast transactions grow rapidly. Most mobile banking apps are compatible with QRIS and BI Fast, and some experts believe people may prefer to use these to transact instead of using separate e-wallet apps. However, e-wallets do have the benefit of being deeply embedded in digital services (think GoPay for Gojek and Tokopedia).
• The real question: The real competition may center on places outside of Indonesia’s metropolitan areas. In lower-tier cities, traditional banks have an advantage over e-wallets because their brands are more well-known. However, e-wallets are making progress in these locations too, so the digital payments space in Indonesia may not necessarily be a zero-sum game.

Read more: QRIS, BI Fast propel banks’ fight against e-wallets in Indonesia

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