BI Will Expand QRIS Services To The Middle East

JAKARTA - Bank Indonesia (BI) has revealed that the cross-border Quick Response Code (QRIS) service or QRIS Cross Border will expand its reach to countries in the Middle East.

Currently, QRIS cross-border services are located in countries such as Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand. Meanwhile, Deputy Governor of Bank Indonesia (BI) Filianingsih Hendarta conveyed that the high interest in public transactions abroad using QRIS services will try to expand the service to the Middle East but must pay attention to several aspects.

"We have conveyed that for the cross border there are several aspects that must be considered first by the MoU between central and inter-industrial banks, most importantly the development of the interlinking, then after that the trial and implementation will be carried out", he said at the press conference of the RDG February 2024, Wednesday, February 21, 2024.

He hopes that all processes carried out by his party can run smoothly so that they can immediately conduct trials.

Filianingsih gave an example, such as the Japanese country which has gone through an in-depth discussion stage, so it is just a matter of waiting for the right time for the trial. While Saudi Arabia is still in the discussion stage.

BI is also optimistic that it will succeed in collaborating with Saudi Arabia because it reflects that his party has previously obtained approval from the United Arab Emirates to cooperate.

"We are still discussing with Saudi Arabia, but maybe before going to Saudi Arabia to the United Arab Emirates because we just signed, this might be a stepping stone," he explained.

For information, in January 2024, the value of digital banking transactions was recorded at IDR 5,335.33 trillion or grew 17.19 percent (yoy). The transaction value of Electronic Money (EU) increased by 39.28 percent (yoy) to IDR 83.37 trillion.

Meanwhile, QRIS transaction nominal grew 149.46 percent (yoy) and reached IDR 31.65 trillion, with 46.37 million users and 30.88 million merchants, most of whom were MSMEs.

Meanwhile, the value of payment transactions using ATM cards, debit cards, and credit cards reached Rp692.32 trillion, an increase of 2.58 percent (yoy).