QRIS Transactions Soar in Kaltara, BI Targets Potential Market for Productive Age

TARAKAN - Users of the Quick Response Code Indonesian Standard (QRIS) transaction tool in North Kalimantan (Kaltara) have experienced a sharp spike.

The Kaltara Bank Indonesia Representative Office (KPwBI) recorded a 408 percent increase in QRIS transaction volume, accompanied by a 266 percent increase in nominal transaction value until the end of 2025.

Head of KPwBI Kaltara, Hasiando Ginsar Manik, said this surge showed a change in people's behavior in transactions towards a digital payment system.

"Volume reflects the number of transactions, while the nominal shows the value of the transaction. As the number of users increases, the frequency and value of QRIS transactions increase significantly in Kaltara," said Hasiando, Wednesday, February 4.

"In addition, the number of merchants who accept QRIS payments is also increasing. In 2024, 95,369 merchants were recorded, and increased to 112,826 merchants at the end of 2025 or grew by 18.3 percent," he continued.

The most dense distribution of merchants is in Tarakan City, followed by Nunukan Regency and Malinau Regency. His party assessed that the growth space is still wide open.

"Of the approximately 392 thousand productive age residents in Kaltara, only about 131 thousand people or 25 percent use QRIS. This means that the market potential is still very large. QRIS has not been fully utilized by the productive age population," he explained.

Hasiando explained that the average BI showed that the number of QRIS users in Kaltara grew by 8.1 percent in the past year and had reached 131 thousand users by December 2025.

"Bank Indonesia assesses this trend as an indicator of accelerating digital financial inclusion in Kaltara, as well as an opportunity to expand the use of QRIS in the MSME sector and people's daily transactions," he said.