The Hong Kong Monetary Authority and Bank Indonesia signed a memorandum on 24 September to strengthen cooperation on QR-code cross-border payments. HKMA chief executive Eddie Yue and Bank Indonesia Governor Destry Damayanti signed the agreement. The authorities will explore arrangements to make QR payment systems interoperable between Hong Kong and Indonesia. No launch date or commercial terms were announced.
The memorandum creates a framework for dialogue on technical, operational and regulatory matters. Both authorities said the work is intended to promote faster, more affordable, transparent and inclusive cross-border payments. The agreement concerns prospective cooperation rather than an already connected retail service.
REGULATORS SET AN INTEROPERABILITY FRAMEWORK
Hong Kong already operates the Faster Payment System around the clock in Hong Kong dollars and renminbi, while Indonesia has developed QRIS as its domestic QR payment standard. The new memorandum does not state which infrastructure will be connected or whether banks and non-bank payment providers will participate from the outset.
DELIVERY DETAILS REMAIN OUTSTANDING
The Financial Stability Board’s global roadmap identifies speed, cost, transparency and access as the principal cross-border payment challenges. Hong Kong and Indonesia used the same objectives in describing their bilateral work, but the memorandum did not set quantitative targets.
For now, the memorandum is a cooperation framework rather than a live payment corridor.