Indonesia plans to expand the reach of its QRIS payment system across APEC economies, positioning digital payments as infrastructure for cross-border trade and tourism.
Indonesia’s domestic payments success is becoming a regional ambition.
The country is moving to expand the use of its QRIS (Quick Response Code Indonesian Standard) system across Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) member economies, as policymakers look to simplify cross-border transactions for businesses, travelers, and small merchants.
The effort reflects a broader trend in Southeast Asia: treating payment rails not just as consumer convenience tools, but as trade infrastructure.
From local standard to regional utility
QRIS was originally designed to unify Indonesia’s fragmented QR-code payment landscape, allowing consumers to pay across banks and wallets using a single standard. Adoption has been rapid, particularly among small and informal merchants.
By extending QRIS interoperability beyond national borders, Indonesia aims to reduce friction for cross-border commerce—especially for tourism, small exporters, and micro-enterprises that lack access to traditional banking services.
Rather than relying on card networks or correspondent banking, QR-based systems offer lower costs and faster settlement, particularly for small-value transactions.
Why APEC matters
APEC includes some of the world’s largest trading economies and fastest-growing consumer markets. Aligning payment standards across the bloc could make regional trade more accessible to small and mid-sized businesses, not just large corporations.
For Indonesia, the expansion also strengthens its role as a fintech policy leader in the region, building on earlier bilateral payment linkages with neighboring countries.
The initiative aligns with a broader push by central banks in Asia to connect domestic fast-payment systems, creating an alternative to legacy international payment networks.
Challenges ahead
Interoperability across borders is as much a regulatory challenge as a technical one. Issues such as foreign exchange conversion, consumer protection, data localization, and anti-money-laundering controls must be aligned across jurisdictions.
There is also the question of adoption. Merchants and consumers will only use cross-border QR payments if they are widely accepted and competitively priced.
Still, policymakers see momentum. As digital payments become ubiquitous domestically, extending them regionally is a natural next step.
A signal for regional fintech
Indonesia’s QRIS expansion underscores how emerging markets are shaping the future of payments. Rather than importing global standards wholesale, countries are exporting their own systems outward.
If successful, QRIS could become a template for how national payment rails evolve into regional infrastructure—quietly reshaping how trade is conducted across borders.
