QRIS is revolutionising cross-border payments in the ASEAN region

Quick Response Code Indonesian Standard or QRIS, which is a digital payment standard that employs QR codes to facilitate cashless transactions. With QRIS, customers can effortlessly make payments by simply scanning the QR code displayed by a business.

In November 2023, three ASEAN countries have officially used QRIS as a payment system. These countries are Thailand, which officially uses QRIS as of August 2022; Malaysia, which started in May 2023; and Singapore, which commenced usage in November.

The Philippines which has signed the MoU for cross-border payments will be the target for expanding the use of QRIS afterwards, and Indonesia will also encourage five other Asian countries, including Myanmar, Vietnam, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, and Laos, to collaborate on this payment system.

Through this collaboration, ASEAN countries will not only encourage financial integration, but also push the region closer to a unified digital payments ecosystem, which can further increase trade, tourism, and economic growth in the long term.In the future, QRIS cross-border system is expected to be implemented and expanded beyond ASEAN.