Starting in 2025, Japan and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) plan to unify QR code payment systems to simplify transactions and avoid the need for currency exchange, especially benefiting tourists.
This move, as reported by Vietnam News Agency (VNA) and announced by Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), is aimed at facilitating smoother spending across these regions.
METI is currently in talks with governments and central banks globally, including those in Southeast Asia, to push forward this initiative.
The Cashless Promotion Council is working on developing a payment system that connects domestic services with international ones, with completion expected in 2024.
In Japan, QR code payments are offered by various companies like Paypay and Rakuten Pay. The upcoming system will enable consumers to make payments for any service by scanning a store’s QR code, overcoming the limitations of current services that only work within registered networks.
In 2022, five ASEAN countries – Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, and the Philippines – signed a memorandum of understanding on payment integration, initiating interactions in several domains.
Japan seeks to expedite negotiations with ASEAN countries to implement the service swiftly between Japan and the ASEAN bloc.
Non-cash payments in Japan amounted to about 111 trillion yen ($750 billion) in 2022, with QR code and other code-based payments representing only 2.6% of this figure.
Meanwhile, digital payments in six major Southeast Asian countries reached $858 billion in the same year.
A survey by Fidelity National Information Services (FIS) highlighted that digital payments, including QR codes, account for 28% of total payments in Indonesia and 23% in Thailand, underscoring the growing trend of cashless transactions in the region.