US Complaints Value Economist Against QRIS Has No Strong Basis

JAKARTA - Paramadina University Economist Wijayanto Samirin assessed that the United States (US) complaint against the Quick Response Code Indonesian Standard (QRIS) did not have a strong basis.

The reason is, QRIS was originally designed as an instrument to expand financial inclusion, especially for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in Indonesia.

The main target of QRIS is to encourage financial inclusion, including for MSMEs. If (the company) is a foreigner who will join QRIS, it is still wide open, just have to apply to BI (Bank Indonesia)," Wijayanto said as quoted by ANTARA, Tuesday, April 22.

As is known, the US through the US Trade Representative Office (USTR) submitted a complaint against QRIS.

They assess that foreign parties, including payment service providers and banks from the US, were not involved in the policy formulation process.

The complaint was contained in the 2025 National Trade Estate Report on Foreign Trade Barriers document released by USTR on March 31, 2025.

It states that international stakeholders are not given space to convey views or explain how their payment system can be integrated with QRIS policies that apply in Indonesia.

US companies, including payment service providers and banks, expressed concern during the QRIS policy formulation process by BI that international stakeholders were not informed of the nature of the changes that might occur, nor the opportunity to convey their views on the system, including how the system should be designed to be optimally integrated with existing payment systems. , wrote the document.

In response to this, Wijayanto views that one of the reasons QRIS is less attractive to global payment system companies such as Visa and Mastercard is because of its much lower transaction cost scheme.

"For example, for MSMEs, transactions below Rp. 500,000 fee are zero, compared with VISA or Mastercard which can reach 1.8 percent to two percent," he explained.

In addition, related to similar complaints against the National Payment Gate (GPN) system, Wijayanto emphasized that existing regulations actually encourage healthy competition.

He views that the GPN does not limit, instead opening up space for all players, including companies from the US.

However, GPN and QRIS do offer much lower service costs than foreign players.

"For us, GPN is something logical. Transactions in Indonesia, two parties from Indonesia, use rupiah, are located in Indonesia. In fact, there is no reason why the process and service must be abroad, other than being expensive, are also inefficient," he said.

Therefore, Wijayanto reminded the Indonesian government to remain firm in maintaining an absolute national interest and cannot be compromised.

"We don't need to be too provoked by US requests. It's also called negotiations, they must start with a high call, let alone feel above the wind," he said.

He suggested that the Indonesian negotiating team should not rush to make decisions, especially in the face of pressure from the US on tariffs and trade cooperation.

Meanwhile, Bank Indonesia (BI) has previously responded to criticism from the US.

BI Senior Deputy Governor Destry Damayanti said cooperation with other countries, including in cross-border fast payment systems such as QRIS, was entirely dependent on the readiness of each country.

"So we don't discriminate. If America is ready, we are ready, why not?" said Destry at the Financial Education event for Indonesian Migrant Workers in Jakarta, last Monday (21/4).