Prisma Ardianto, Jakarta – The United States has raised concerns over Indonesia's Quick Response Code Indonesian Standard (QRIS), citing it as a trade barrier due to the perceived exclusion of American payment service providers during its policy formulation.
The issue was highlighted in the latest trade barriers report by the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR), which also flagged several other Indonesian digital payment policies.
USTR said US companies, including banks and digital payment firms, were not given the opportunity to provide input during the development of Indonesia's QR code regulations. The policy, formalized under Bank Indonesia Regulation No. 21/2019, lacked transparency and consultation, the report stated.
"In developing the QR Code system, stakeholders, including international ones, were not adequately informed about the nature of potential changes or invited to share views on how the system might interact with existing global payment frameworks," the USTR report noted.
In response, Bank Indonesia's Senior Deputy Governor Destry Damayanti said the central bank is open to working with any country, including the United States, on QRIS and other fast payment technologies.
"If the US is ready, we're ready. Why not collaborate?" Destry said in Jakarta on Monday.
She added that Indonesia does not discriminate when it comes to forming digital payment partnerships, and cooperation hinges on mutual preparedness. Destry also pointed out that US financial giants such as Visa and Mastercard still dominate the local credit card market, suggesting that American firms remain well-integrated into Indonesia's payment ecosystem.
"Visa and Mastercard are still major players in our credit card space, so really, there's no issue," she said.
QRIS usage continues to surge in Indonesia, with Bank Indonesia reporting a 163.32 percent year-on-year growth in transactions as of February 2025, driven by rising user and merchant adoption.
Beyond QRIS, the US also criticized other Bank Indonesia policies, including the implementation of the National Payment Gateway (GPN) under Regulation No. 19/08/2017. This rule restricts foreign ownership to 20 percent for companies seeking switching licenses within the GPN, effectively barring cross-border electronic payment services for domestic debit and credit card transactions.
The USTR also objected to another BI regulation, No. 19/10/PADG/2017, which mandates foreign companies to establish partnerships with licensed Indonesian switching providers to process domestic transactions via GPN. According to USTR, these partnerships require BI approval and must demonstrate support for local industry development, including technology transfer commitments.