UOB, OCBC bank account holders can now make cashless payments via QR codes in Indonesia

SINGAPORE - UOB and OCBC bank account holders can now make cashless payments using QR codes in Indonesia, while DBS customers will be able to do so soon.

These seamless cross-border retail payments can be made by using their existing mobile banking applications to scan QRIS (Quick Response Code Indonesian Standard) or Nets QR codes displayed by merchants in Indonesia and Singapore, respectively.

Some banks are also making fund transfers between Singapore and Malaysia accounts easier by linking Singapore's PayNow and Malaysia's DuitNow. Users will be able to transfer money between both countries with just the recipient's mobile phone number or virtual payment address.

The two services were announced on Nov 17 at the Singapore Fintech Festival.

The Indonesia linkage was jointly launched by Bank Indonesia governor Perry Warjiyo and Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) managing director Ravi Menon.

Bank Negara Malaysia governor Abdul Rasheed Ghaffour and Mr Menon marked the PayNow-DuitNow linkage by executing live cross-border fund transfers to each other at the conference held at the Singapore Expo.

The PayNow-DuitNow service will be made available to Singapore customers of Liquid Group, Maybank Singapore, OCBC and UOB. These institutions will progressively increase the number of eligible user groups from Nov 17 until the end of January 2024 to give customers time to familiarise themselves with the service.

Ms Jacquelyn Tan, head of group personal financial services at UOB, said: "Given the large number of Malaysia residents living and working in Singapore, we anticipate that the UOB DuitNow fund transfer service will be a swift, secure and hassle-free mode for them to remit money back home for their everyday personal and family expenses."

Earlier in 2023, OCBC enabled its customers to scan and pay merchants with DuitNow QR codes.

Mr Sunny Quek, the bank's head of global consumer financial services, said: "It has been very well received. In October alone, there were about 25 per cent more transactions compared with September."

Bank Indonesia and MAS said in a joint statement on Nov 17: "With greater payment convenience, the QRIS-Nets QR payment linkage can enable micro and small businesses to tap a new pool of customers in each other's economies."

The linkage will also promote cross-border e-commerce activities and tourism spending by people and small businesses across Singapore and Indonesia, said Mr Menon.

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This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.