On September 11, 2025, UnionPay International (UPI), in collaboration with its partners, announced the pilot launch of cross-border QR payment linkage between China and Indonesia under the guidance of the two central banks. At the launch ceremony in Beijing, a pilot transaction was demonstrated using an Indonesian mobile payment application; while in Jakarta, whitelisted users successfully made transactions via the UnionPay App and Alipay app by scanning QRIS, the unified QR in Indonesia.
During this sandbox phase, selected users from China's mainland can make QR payments with those two Chinese mobile payment apps at over 40 million QRIS merchants in Indonesia. Meanwhile, pilot merchants in the UnionPay and Alipay networks in the Chinese mainland can also accept QR payments from 22 mainstream Indonesian mobile payment apps. It is important to note that the sandbox phase is currently limited to whitelisted participants and merchants. The cross-border QR payment linkage is expected to be fully operational within 2025 once the sandbox phase is completed.
The cross-border QR payment linkage, a key project implemented between China and Indonesia in the Government-to-Government (G2G) model, is steadily progressing under the guidance of both central banks. In January 2025, UPI signed a memorandum of cooperation with the Indonesian Payment System Association (ASPI), Ant International, and the Bank of China (Hong Kong) Jakarta Branch. Subsequently, UPI signed separate cooperation agreements with the four switch networks in Indonesia—Rintis, ALTO, Artajasa, and Jalin—as well as Ant International and Alipay, thereby accelerating project implementation.
In accordance with the agreement between the two central banks, cross-border QR payments between China and Indonesia will be settled in their respective local currencies. This arrangement will not only facilitate cross-border mobile payment experience for residents of both countries, but also enhance merchants in broadening their customer base. Additionally, the project serves as an important step forward in UnionPay's effort to create a new four-party model in collaboration with industry stakeholders, where UnionPay continues to play a pivotal role as it extends collaboration further across the industry chain, contributing to win-win cooperation of the industry while driving its own development.
So far, UnionPay has achieved or is pursuing cross-border QR payment linkage with payment networks in 19 countries and regions outside the Chinese mainland. Going forward, UnionPay will continue to scale up cross-border payment connectivity.
This initiative marks a significant advancement in seamless digital payments between China and Indonesia, promoting economic ties and user convenience while aligning with broader industry trends toward interconnected payment ecosystems.
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