Coordinating Minister Airlangga On QRIS And GPN Criticized By The US: RI Open To Masters And Visa

Illustration (Photo: Doc. ANTARA)

JAKARTA - The implementation of the Quick Response Code Indonesian Standard (QRIS) and the National Payment Gate (GPN) is in the spotlight of the United States Government (US).

Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto emphasized that Indonesia remains open to collaborating in digital payment systems, including with international operators such as Visa and Mastercard.

"Regarding QRIS or GPN, Indonesia is actually open to foreign operators including Masters or Visa," Airlangga said in a virtual press conference, Friday, April 25.

He emphasized that there was no change in the treatment of foreign actors in the national payment ecosystem.

Airlangga emphasized that foreign operators are allowed to be involved both on the front-end side and in other roles in the payment gateway ecosystem, with the principle of equality.

"There is no change in the credit card sector. Then for this gateway sector they are open to entering front end or participating and that's the level of playing field with others. So this is actually just an explanation," he explained.

Previously, in the National Trade Estate (NE) Report on Foreign Trade Barriers 2025 document released at the end of March, the US Trade Representative (USTR) also highlighted a number of regulations from Bank Indonesia (BI), and the Financial Services Authority (OJK).

One of the highlights is the BI Regulation No. 19/08/2017 concerning the National Payment Gateway (NPG) requires all domestic retail transactions using debit cards and credit to be processed through NPG switching institutions located in Indonesia and licensed from BI.

This regulation also limits foreign ownership in NPG switching institutions to a maximum of 20 percent, as well as prohibits the provision of cross-border electronic payment services for domestic retail transactions.

In BI regulation No. 19/08/2017 concerning the National Payment Gateway (NPG) requires all domestic retail transactions using debit cards and credit to be processed through NPG switching institutions located in Indonesia and licensed from BI.

The partnership must obtain approval from BI, which requires support from foreign parties for the development of domestic industries, including through technology transfers.

In addition, in BI regulation No. 21 of 2019, which sets the national standard for payment systems based on QR or QRIS (Quick Response Code Indonesian Standard) codes, and requires its use for all QR-based payments in Indonesia is also in the spotlight of the US Government.

US companies, including payment service providers and banks, expressed concern that international stakeholders were not adequately involved in the policy formulation process.

According to them, there is no notification regarding the potential for policy changes, and there is no opportunity to convey views related to the design of the system and how the system should interact with the existing payment infrastructure.

In addition, in May 2023, BI requires all government credit card transactions to be processed through the National Payment Gate (GPN) and also requires the issuance and use of credit cards by local governments.

"US payment companies are concerned that this new policy will limit access to the use of US electronic payment options," the USTR wrote in the NTE document.