Bank Indonesia, the country’s central bank, has rolled out its Quick Response Code Indonesian Standard (QRIS), a single system for all QR code-based payments in the country. From January this year, merchants no longer have to show a different code for every different e-wallet, and customers can use any compliant wallet at any merchant accepting QR payments. Everyone who wants to accept QR code payments will have to use a QRIS-compliant code – including foreign e-wallets like Alipay and WeChat Pay, which both recently gained regulatory approval to operate in Indonesia.
In the last four years, the country's most popular e-wallets – GoPay, offered by the ride-hailing unicorn Gojek; the Lippo Group conglomerate’s OVO; and the EMTEK-Ant Financial joint venture DANA – have changed how Indonesians shop and pay, be it online or offline. The wave started in urban areas as major retailers began accepting QR code-based payments. In the past two years, MSMEs have begun using QR-code payments too, even in rural areas.
The central bank
