Bank of Korea launches QR payment link in Indonesia

QR payment system / gettyimagesbank

Travelers from Korea can now pay in Indonesia by scanning their smartphones, bypassing currency exchange lines and foreign transaction fees as a new cross-border QR payment system goes live.

The Bank of Korea said Wednesday that it launched a QR-based payment linkage with Indonesia, allowing users to make purchases by scanning local codes with their existing financial apps.

The rollout follows a memorandum of understanding signed in July 2024 between the Bank of Korea and Bank Indonesia to connect the two countries’ payment systems.

The service is initially available through the Korea Financial Telecommunications and Clearings Institute, in partnership with Woori Card and KB Kookmin Bank. Officials said additional financial institutions and payment platforms — including Shinhan Bank, Woori Bank, Hana Bank, Shinhan Card, KB Kookmin Card, GLN and Travel Wallet — will be added in phases.

Using the system, Korean users can pay at more than 32 million merchants across Indonesia that support the country’s standardized QRIS payment network, simply by scanning a code within their usual banking or payment apps.

The service eliminates the need for double currency conversion — typically from Korean won to dollars and then to local currency — by enabling direct transactions in local currencies through a system provided by Hana Bank. Officials said this is expected to significantly reduce fees for users.

Until now, such services had been restricted because Indonesia requires foreign payment systems to connect through a designated national switching operator. That barrier was cleared when the Korea Financial Telecommunications and Clearings Institute assumed the role of a representative switch and linked its system with Indonesia’s network.

The platform also works in reverse. Indonesian travelers in Korea can use their domestic financial apps to scan QR codes such as Seoul Pay, with plans to expand compatibility to Zero Pay in the future.

The Bank of Korea said it plans to expand QR-based cross-border payment services to other Asian countries, including Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore and India, as part of a broader effort to improve payment convenience for users abroad.

A Bank of Korea official said the initiative is aimed at making overseas payments more accessible and affordable. “We will continue efforts to enhance payment convenience for users,” the official said.

This article was published with the assistance of generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.