Good news! Bank Negara and Bank Indonesia are collaborating to launch a cross-border QR code payment service! Instead of exchanging rupiah when you go abroad to Indonesia, you can use DuitNow QR to scan the QR code of Indonesian merchants to complete the payment.
According to a joint announcement by Bank Negara and Bank Indonesia, consumers in both countries can make cross-border payments directly through DuitNow QR, a payment QR code service for Malaysia, and QRIS, a payment QR code service for Indonesia.
The partnership will be fully commercialized in the third quarter of 2022, and once officially launched on the market, consumers will be able to use their own payment tools to scan QR codes directly from the other country. This will speed up the payment process and also eliminate the need to exchange cash.
A cross-border QR code payment partnership between Malaysia and Thailand will also be launched in the near future. Bank Negara has also previously partnered with Singapore to launch DuitNow and PayNow cross-border payment services, allowing people in both countries to make real-time cross-border payments in either Malaysia or Singapore via their cell phones. Customers can simply scan the QR code of a store to make retail payments.
Once cross-border QR code payments are officially launched in Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and Singapore, then the nationals will not have to have the hassle of exchanging currencies when they go to these countries to spend money.
