BI: Cross-border Payment Connectivity Becomes ASEAN’s New Strength

Armfalcon.com, DENPASAR — Bank Indonesia Senior Deputy Governor Destry Damayanti said that cross-border payment connectivity would be a pride and a new strength for ASEAN. Five central banks from ASEAN countries have signed this MoU regarding Regional Payment Connectivity (RPC).

The five ASEAN member central banks are from Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines. “So going forward, if you go to Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand, transactions can be much easier. Now with Thailand and Malaysia you can use QRIS (Indonesian Standard Quick Response Code). This is one of the prides of ASEAN,” Destry said Capacity Building on ASEAN Issues to stakeholders in Bali Province in Denpasar, Wednesday (17/5/2023).

Now there are only five ASEAN countries, he continued, but in the future other ASEAN countries after developing their payment systems will certainly become a new strength for ASEAN. Moreover, said Destry, countries in ASEAN are currently in a better condition than developed countries.

“Global economic growth, for example, is estimated to grow 2.6 percent in 2023. Meanwhile, in ASEAN it is estimated to grow above 5 percent,” he said at an event filled with Digital Currency talk shows Opportunities for the Tourism Industry and the Creative Economy.

Meanwhile, Bank Indonesia estimates that Indonesia’s economic growth this year will grow in the range of 4.8 to 5.3 percent. Destry added, the digital economy and finance have supported economic growth in Indonesia and also in ASEAN countries. In addition, Covid-19 has made economic and financial digitalization run at a fast pace.

He said that for QRIS alone, there are now 32 million users in Indonesia and 25.4 million merchants. Likewise for BI Fast transactions in the first quarter of 2023 alone, it was IDR 1,133 trillion.

Regarding Bali, Destry also said that the Bali Competitiveness Index is in the top 10 best in Indonesia, which means that the people in Bali are already literate in digitalization.

“In addition, the use of crypto assets in Bali is also increasingly widespread and even Bali is known as theglobal crypto hub’. Bali is also the main destination for digital nomads to stay for quite a long time, even up to 10 years,” he said.

Meanwhile, Head of the Bali Province Bank Indonesia Representative Office (KPwBI) Trisno Nugroho said that until mid-May 2023 there were 624 thousand QRIS merchants in the local province and 695 thousand users. “Bali has prospects for development digital currency,” said Trino.

On the other hand, he projects that foreign tourists visiting Bali by the end of 2023 will reach 4.8 million people. As of May 14 2023, there have been 1.8 million foreign tourists visiting the Island of the Gods.

“The average number of foreign tourists visiting per day is 14,000 and domestic tourists are 11,600 with 35 airlines already making direct flights to Bali. Although there has been an increase, it is still below the frequency of arrivals before Covid-19,” said Trisno.

source : Between