The project, which also involves a Malaysian payment system made available in Indonesia, was launched on Monday after months of testing.

Attending the launch ceremony, held as part of the annual Digital Economy and Finance Festival Indonesia (FEKDI) in Jakarta, Bank Indonesia (BI) Governor Perry Warjiyo and Coordinating Economic Minister Airlangga Hartarto kicked off the commercial operation of QRIS Indonesia-Malaysia on Monday.

“I hope the cross-border QRIS [payments] and the Credit Card Indonesia (KKI) [initiative] can push transactions by micro, small and medium enterprises [MSMEs], be they through domestic spending or expanding access to international markets,” said President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, who attended the event virtually.

The President also used the opportunity to advocate for a wide adoption of the KKI credit cards, which were launched on the same day and are aimed at use by government officials to improve traceability and provide greater accountability in state spending.

ASEAN member states have been pushing for wider use of local currencies in transactions and trade among countries in the region with the aim of reducing their reliance on United States dollars, which they will achieve through cooperation in cross-border payments and local currency settlements (LCS).

The QRIS expansion allows users from either country to use the QR code standard managed by BI for payments in either country, thereby doing away with the need to exchange money or carry a credit card.

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