Indonesia’s QRIS Expansion Across APEC and What It Means for Businesses

Indonesia is moving to expand QRIS (Quick Response Code Indonesian Standard) interoperability across Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) economies as part of a broader effort to strengthen cross-border digital payments and regional commerce. The initiative aligns with Indonesia’s economic engagement with Asia-Pacific markets, which account for roughly 70 percent of the country’s export destinations, including major economies such as China, Japan, the United States, and South Korea.

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Cross-border QR payments are designed to simplify retail transactions, particularly in sectors where small-value consumer spending, such as tourism, transportation, and food services, is significant.

QRIS has reached nationwide scale

QRIS has expanded rapidly since its launch by Bank Indonesia in 2019, becoming one of Southeast Asia’s largest QR-based payment systems. By mid-2025, QRIS supported approximately 39.3 million registered merchants and about 57 million users, demonstrating broad adoption across Indonesia’s retail economy.

Transaction activity has grown alongside merchant adoption. Bank Indonesia recorded 6.05 billion QRIS transactions worth IDR 579 trillion (US$37 billion) during the first half of 2025, highlighting the increasing role of mobile-based payment systems in Indonesia’s consumer economy.

The scale of this ecosystem is significant because cross-border payment systems become commercially viable only when large numbers of merchants are already able to accept transactions.

Cross-Border QR payment corridors are already operating

Indonesia has already implemented cross-border QR payment connectivity with several Southeast Asian economies. Interoperability agreements with Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore allow consumers in those countries to make payments in Indonesia using their domestic banking applications or digital wallets.

Transaction flows across these corridors demonstrate early adoption of cross-border QR payments. By mid-2025, cross-border QRIS payments across Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand had reached approximately IDR 1.66 trillion (US$105 million) in total value.

Malaysia represents the largest payment corridor. Between January and September 2025, Malaysian users completed 3.4 million transactions in Indonesia, totaling IDR 775 billion (US$49 million), while Indonesian users conducted 516,000 transactions in Malaysia, totaling IDR 178 billion (US$11 million).

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These transactions are typically used for small-value consumer purchases, including food services, transportation payments, and local retail spending.

How cross-border QR payments are processed

Cross-border QR payments are processed via merchant-presented QR codes, which are recognized by foreign mobile payment applications. When a consumer scans a QR code, the payment request is transmitted through financial institutions participating in both countries.

Participating institutions verify the transaction, perform currency conversion where necessary, and settle funds between national payment systems. The Indonesian merchant receives payment in Indonesian rupiah, while the customer pays in their domestic currency through a mobile banking application or digital wallet.

This structure allows businesses to accept cross-border digital payments without installing international card terminals or maintaining foreign merchant accounts.

Micro and informal businesses could benefit most

Indonesia’s business landscape comprises more than 65 million micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), which account for over 60 percent of national GDP and roughly 97 percent of total employment. Many operate in the informal sector, including street food, traditional markets, and small retail services.

QRIS adoption has been particularly strong among these businesses. More than 90 percent of QRIS merchants are MSMEs, reflecting the platform’s ability to lower barriers to digital payments by enabling them to accept transactions via a printed QR code.

If cross-border interoperability expands across APEC economies, these businesses could gain the ability to receive payments from foreign customers without investing in additional payment infrastructure.

Tourism spending is the most immediate opportunity

Tourism represents one of the most immediate channels through which cross-border QR payments could affect Indonesian businesses. Indonesia welcomed approximately 15.39 million international visitors in 2025, surpassing government tourism targets and reflecting continued recovery in inbound travel. Foreign visitors spent an average of US$1,267 per trip, generating roughly US$18.9 billion in tourism foreign exchange earnings for the country.

Many small merchants in tourism destinations do not accept international credit cards, creating payment friction for foreign visitors. Cross-border QR payments allow tourists to use mobile wallets issued in their home countries, reducing reliance on cash withdrawals or currency exchange.

Local currency settlement can reduce transaction costs

Cross-border QR payment initiatives in Asia are increasingly operating alongside local-currency settlement frameworks, which allow transactions to be settled directly between participating currencies rather than routed through intermediaries such as the US dollar.

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For merchants processing frequent low-value payments from foreign customers, settling in local currency can reduce transaction costs and simplify accounting.

These frameworks also support broader financial cooperation across Asian payment systems.

QRIS could become part of a regional digital payment network

The expansion of QRIS across APEC reflects a broader trend toward interoperable QR payment systems across Asia. Countries such as Thailand, Singapore, and Malaysia have introduced national QR payment standards and linked them through bilateral payment corridors.

Indonesia’s own digital payment growth illustrates the speed of this transformation. Bank Indonesia reported a 139 percent year-on-year increase in QRIS transactions in 2025, indicating rapid adoption of mobile payments nationwide.

As more economies connect to their QR payment systems, these networks could gradually evolve into a regional digital payment infrastructure supporting cross-border consumer transactions.

Cross-border QR payment interoperability could significantly reduce transaction friction for businesses serving international visitors in Indonesia,” said Diang Abung Putra, Marketing Associate at Dezan Shira Indonesia.

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