ASEAN hastens regional payment connectivity
Jakarta (VNA)
- ASEAN will work on a roadmap to expand its
regional payment connectivity to encompass all member states, according to the
bloc’s chair Indonesia.
Earlier,
the ASEAN-5, including Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, and
Singapore, inked an agreement on linking their QR code payment systems.
Speaking
at a press conference on May 7, Indonesian Minister of Economic Affairs Airlangga
Hartarto said ASEAN would discuss the time frame for other member states to
join the region-wide payment connectivity.
According
to the Bank Indonesia, six Thai banks have connected to Indonesia’s Quick Response Code Indonesian Standard (QRIS), namely Bangkok Bank, Bank of Ayudhya (Krungsri), CIMB
Thai, Kasikornbank, Krungthai Bank, and Siam Commercial Bank.
The
22nd ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) Council meeting agreed on a
leaders’ declaration on advancing regional payment connectivity and local
currency transaction mechanism for ASEAN to be adopted in the upcoming summit in
Labuan Bajo.
The ASEAN-5 already have their
respective instant payment systems: for instance, Indonesia with the QRIS and
the Bank Indonesia Fast Payment. Vietnam is likely to be the next to join the
connectivity. Brunei, Laos, and Cambodia would follow later on./