The trend of paying by QR code is spreading partly thanks to the emergence of cross-border travel and connectivity services, Nikkei Asia reported.
In Cambodia, QR code payments are expected to increase by 29% by 2023 to around 601 million transactions, a tenfold increase in just three years. Last month, the National Bank of Cambodia (Central Bank) launched the Bakong Tourists mobile payment system, which allows tourists to make cashless transactions. Payments are made using the country’s unified QR code, KHQR, with 3.3 million payment locations nationwide.
In Malaysia, DuitNow QR, launched by Payments Network Malaysia (aka PayNet) in 2019, has quickly become the cornerstone of the digital payments ecosystem.
According to Bank Negara Malaysia, there were 1.5 billion transactions worth 1.37 billion ringgit ($320 million) in the first six months of this year - up 64% and 37% respectively compared to the same period in previous years.
DuitNow QR can be used as an alternative to systems in other ASEAN countries. For example, Malaysian users can scan QR codes from Indonesia's QRIS, Singapore's NETS, Thailand's PromptPay to make payments overseas, and international visitors to Malaysia can also scan DuitNow QR codes there.
In Southeast Asia, Singapore was an early adopter of digital payments. Launched in 2017, the country’s PayNow has become a critical infrastructure, enabling real-time, 24/7 money transfers. According to the Association of Banks in Singapore, the system handled 437 million transactions worth SGD157 billion ($120 billion) in 2023, up 41% and 28% from previous years.
In April 2021, the association linked PayNow with its Thai equivalent PromptPay, allowing retail customers of banks from both countries to send money securely across borders. This was the first time in the world that similar instant payment systems had been linked internationally.
Meanwhile, the Bank of Thailand has expanded PromptPay’s coverage to other ASEAN countries. Linkages are also being formed outside ASEAN with countries that have close economic ties with Thailand, especially those that provide large numbers of migrant workers and tourists. In 2023, PromptPay transactions soared to a record high of 77.2 million, up 2.9 million from the previous year and averaging 129 billion baht ($3.8 billion) per day.
Indonesia and Vietnam have also seen a rise in QR payments. According to Bank Indonesia, its consolidated QR code transactions, QRIS, increased 226% in the fourth quarter of 2023 compared to the same period in 2022, with users and merchants reaching 50 million and 32 million, respectively.
The State Bank of Vietnam said that QR code transactions in the first 6 months of 2024 increased by 104.23% in quantity and 99.57% in value compared to the same period in 2023.
In the Philippines, digital payment transactions will reach 2.6 billion in 2023, up 28.1% from 2022. QR transactions using the unified QR Ph code will reach 73.8 million in 2023, up 17.2 times from 2022.
