Consumers and merchants in Indonesia and Thailand are now able to make and accept instant cross-border QR payments for goods and services under a pilot trial conducted by the country's respective central banks.
Marking a key milestone in the ASEAN Payment Connectivity initiative, the full commercial phase will be launched in the first quarter of 2022.
At this stage, users from Indonesia are now able to use their mobile payment applications to scan Thai QR Codes to make payments to merchants all over Thailand. Likewise, users from Thailand are now able to use their mobile payment applications to scan QRIS (Quick Response Code Indonesian Standard) to pay for goods and services at merchants in Indonesia and also use this service for their cross-border e-commerce transactions.
In the future, the service will be expanded to enable users in both countries to make real-time fund transfers by referencing the recipient’s mobile phone number.
Sugeng Sugeng, deputy governor of Bank Indonesia bills the pilot as a form of "industrial sandbox" to further expansion of cross-border payments in the region.
"One interesting aspect of this project is the use of direct quotation of local currency exchange rates provided by the Appointed Cross Currency Dealer (ACCD) banks under the Local Currency Settlement (LCS) Framework to improve the efficiency of the transactions, thus lowering transaction costs.
"The significant expected outcome of this first cross-border payment project is not only to facilitate transactions in the tourism sector but also to assist SMEs in tourist areas. This project will also increase financial inclusion, inclusive digital economy, and e-commerce transactions."