JAKARTA: In a cafe in Jakarta’s Sudirman business district, a company executive finishes a business lunch with a Chinese corporate partner and heads to the cashier.
Instead of reaching for cash or a card, each could open their normally used mobile banking app, scan the QR code displayed at the counter, and complete the payment within seconds.
Scenes like this have become increasingly common across Indonesia.
QR code-based payments have transformed the way businesses and consumers conduct everyday transactions, from airports and shopping centres to restaurants, hotels and tourist destinations.
Today, the impact of Quick Response Code Indonesian Standard (QRIS) extends far beyond domestic transactions.
As Indonesia strengthens financial connectivity with other countries, QRIS is entering a new phase, from a national payment standard to a cross-border payment ecosystem.
Through collaboration between Indonesia and China, two-way cross-border QR payments are now fully operational.
Indonesian consumers can use QRIS-enabled applications to scan and pay at UnionPay and Alipay QR-accepting merchants across China.
Also, Chinese visitors can conveniently pay in Indonesia using compatible QR payment platforms from their home country, including the UnionPay App, bank apps connected to UnionPay MobileWallet Connect, and Alipay.
This two-way interoperability is made possible through UnionPay’s cross-border payment network, which bridges China’s and Indonesia’s local payment systems.
Driven by QRIS’s proven interoperability, convenience, and cost efficiency at home, cross-border payments represent the natural next stage of its evolution, and this milestone marks that evolution becoming reality.
Indonesia and China are turning payment interoperability into a practical achievement, delivering a more seamless, efficient and connected digital payment experience that now extends well beyond domestic borders.
The numbers confirm that the conditions for cross-border interoperability are already in place, not anticipated, but proven.
According to Bank Indonesia, QRIS transactions grew 116% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2026 (1Q26), nearly triple the pace of overall digital payment growth, supported by a network of 44 million merchants and 61.7 million users built since 2020.
Cross-border demand is equally tangible. Inbound QRIS transactions, international visitors paying in Indonesia, reached 2.79 million in Q126, outpacing outbound volumes by nearly four to one. Indonesia is not preparing to become a cross-border QR destination – it already is one.
The data also showed that Indonesia’s local digital payment ecosystem is already mature and that cross-border demand genuinely exists, making interoperability the natural next step in the organic extension of Indonesia’s digital payment ecosystem.
A senior payment industry analyst said that the figures confirm “the real foundation for cross-border interoperability is already in place”.
“This is not merely a policy concept, but a response to real market demand that emerges as the domestic payment ecosystem matures.
“In addition, cross-border payment interoperability is becoming the natural extension of QRIS from domestic success toward broader utility,” the analyst said.
Indonesia and China have achieved a major milestone in two-way QR payment interoperability.
On April 30, 2026, interoperability between QRIS and China’s QR system went live alongside the launch ceremony of the Indonesia Digital Innovation Centre, marking the shift of China–Indonesia cross-border QR payment from a cooperation framework into a usable service.
Building on that initial activation, on June 11 under the guidance of the central banks of both countries,
UnionPay together with its partners announced that the China–Indonesia cross-border QR interoperability project had gone fully live, enabling consumers in both countries to scan and pay across most cross-border retail scenarios using their usual payment platforms.
Under the guidance of the two central banks and led by ASPI, UnionPay participates in advancing the connection with Indonesia’s local payment networks, driving two-way interoperability into implementation.
The cross-border QR payment linkage project between UnionPay International and Indonesia’s ASPI is a representative of the government-to-government cooperation model.
When it comes to the practical significance of interoperability, especially those tied to tourism, food and beverage, retail, hotels, transport and tourist sites, the value of interoperability is not merely adding another payment method.
Because most merchants already accept QRIS, they can serve Chinese travellers without installing additional payment infrastructure. This reduces friction at the point of sale and helps convert tourist traffic into actual spending.
The interoperability works equally well in the other direction.
For example, a Chinese tourist visiting Yogyakarta stops at a local handicraft store to purchase souvenirs. After selecting several items, she proceeds to the cashier and asks how she can make the payment.
The merchant points to the store’s QRIS code displayed at the counter. Using her preferred UnionPay App, she scans the QRIS code and completes the transaction within seconds.
The payment is automatically processed through the cross-border QR interoperability system.
For the merchant, no additional payment infrastructure is required beyond the existing QRIS setup. — The Jakarta Post/ANN
