The central banks of Indonesia and Singapore are set to introduce the use of QR codes for cross-border payments between the nations.
It is expected that the plan will see both Bank Indonesia (BI) and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) launch the service before the end of the year.
The plan to introduce the technology into their payment systems was originally announced in August 2022, however, despite enthusiasm from both countries, little ground was made.
However, Bank Indonesia deputy governor Filianingsih Hendarta is claiming that the project has now reached the halfway point, with three-quarters of the beta testing completed.
Initially, Singapore rolled out what it claimed was the world’s first unified payments QR code in 2018, making it a pioneer in the sector.
In the past five years, the Southeast Asian nation has continued to be a perennial force in the space, as the country completed a cross-border pilot with Malaysia, while Indonesia and Thailand have also linked their respective systems.
In other PayTech news from the continent, Visa recently launched Apple Pay in the Vietnamese market, in a move seen as a major milestone for in the advancement of cashless payments in the country.
For the first time-ever, Customers will now be able to use Apple Pay with their Visa card and experience a seamless and secure payment method.
Some of the nations most notable banks, including; Asia Commercial Joint Stock Bank (ACB), Military Commercial Joint Stock Bank (MB), Sacombank, Techcombank Vietcombank and VPBank have all agreed to help integrate the product into their service.
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