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JAKARTA, November 14 (Reuters) – Five Southeast Asian central banks on Monday signed a memorandum of understanding on regional cross-border payments at an event ahead of the G20 summit in Bali.
The five ASEAN countries are Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines and Singapore.
During the signing ceremony, Indonesian central bank governor Perry Warjiyo said regional connectivity will work using a quick response (QR) code.
He also said local currency settlements would be used so there was no need to convert to US dollars.
Indonesia connected its payment system using the QR code with Thailand earlier this year and will do the same soon with other countries, Warjiyo said.
The governor said the agreement covers the connection of retail payment systems, although there are plans to intensify the partnership in wholesale and central bank digital currencies.
Earlier, Warjiyo said that cross-border payments between the five ASEAN countries will be online next year.
In a video statement at the ceremony, Indonesian President Joko Widodo said he expected the cross-border payment initiative to be expanded globally.
(Reporting by Stefanno Sulaiman and Ananda Teresia Editing by Ed Davies)
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