When the Indonesian government announced its plan to expand QRIS (Quick Response Code Indonesian Standard, a unified national QR code payment system) in cooperation with China, I read the news with mixed feelings. On one hand, there was pride—because a homegrown financial innovation was finally being recognized on the global stage. What began as a simple tool for MSMEs in local markets has now evolved into a symbol of Indonesia’s technological success, celebrated by domestic media and policymakers alike. Yet beneath that pride lies unease: the stronger QRIS becomes, the more it attracts the gravitational pull of geopolitical and economic rivalry.
With more than 57 million users and 39.3 million merchants—93% of them MSMEs (Bank Indonesia (BI – the Central Bank of Indonesia) data, mid-2025)—plus billions of rupiah in cross-border transactions already flowing through Malaysia, Thailand, and Singapore, QRIS is no longer a peripheral experiment. Its expansion into Japan and the planned integration with China, India, and Saudi Arabia have turned it into a strategic node in the emerging multipolar financial order. Notably, both China and India are core BRICS members, while Saudi Arabia has recently joined as a new BRICS participant, further tying QRIS expansion to the bloc’s growing financial influence.
Indonesia’s official membership in BRICS sharpens this perception. QRIS is increasingly viewed as part of a broader de-dollarization agenda, especially if linked with the BRICS-Bridge initiative. From Washington’s perspective, this is a clear threat. The 2025 USTR report under the Trump administration already flagged QRIS and GPN as trade barriers, with tariff threats of 32–47% on Indonesian exports. Brazil, another founding BRICS member, faced a similar fate with its Pix system, triggering a Section 301 investigation and tariff threats of up to 50%. Meanwhile, policymakers in the EU and Africa are also observing closely: some see QRIS as an inspiration for localized solutions, while others worry about further fragmentation in global finance.
Indonesia stands at a crossroads. QRIS represents financial sovereignty, but it could also drag the country into the vortex of global rivalry. Its geography and role as a growth hub in the Global South make Indonesia a focal point of great-power competition.
But resistance is not the only path. There is space for strategic collaboration that could offer a middle ground:
Gateway Interoperability – rather than negotiating bilateral corridors one by one, Bank Indonesia and ASPI (Asosiasi Sistem Pembayaran Indonesia / Indonesian Payment System Association) could allow Visa and Mastercard to act as global “gateways.” This would mean a QRIS user in Europe or North America could scan a code in a merchant linked to Visa/Mastercard, and the transaction would be routed through their rails while still debiting the user’s rupiah account. It accelerates international expansion without building new infrastructure country by country, while giving Visa/Mastercard access to millions of Indonesian QRIS transactions. Risk caveat: dependency on global rails could reintroduce vulnerabilities to sanctions or unilateral restrictions.
Value-Added Services – instead of competing on transaction fees, Visa and Mastercard could sell advanced services layered on top of QRIS. This includes AI-based fraud detection, tokenization of sensitive account data to protect merchants, and powerful analytics to provide BI and Indonesian PSPs with insights into cross-border spending trends. For QRIS, this enhances trust and resilience; for the global players, it creates new high-margin revenue streams. Risk caveat: issues of data sovereignty must be carefully managed to prevent leakage of sensitive financial flows.
Hybrid Products – co-developing dual-network products that marry QRIS domestically with Visa/Mastercard abroad. An Indonesian bank, for example, could issue a dual-wallet app or card: transactions inside Indonesia are cleared via QRIS/GPN at low cost, but when the user travels, payments switch seamlessly to Visa or Mastercard. They could also enable QRIS payments backed by a credit line from Visa/Mastercard, combining local efficiency with international flexibility. Risk caveat: balancing consumer protection and fair cost-sharing between networks will be key.
Such models allow Indonesia to maintain domestic control while keeping doors open to global cooperation. QRIS does not need to be a symbol of separation. It can embody Amitav Acharya’s vision of a Multiplex World, which he describes as “diverse, decentralized, and multipolar,” encouraging connectivity without dependency, and cooperation without alignment.
To further reduce perceptions of threat and to build credibility, QRIS should also commit to meeting OECD standards on payment security and transparency. Aligning with these global benchmarks would demonstrate that Indonesia is not only asserting sovereignty but also embracing responsible governance. This would reassure international partners, strengthen user trust, and make QRIS a respected player in the global financial ecosystem. Furthermore, Indonesia should explore cooperation with OECD members such as Australia, the European Union, and the United States. Such partnerships would reinforce neutrality, dilute the narrative of QRIS as merely a de-dollarization tool, and strengthen its positioning as an inclusive and globally trusted payment infrastructure.
In this sense, QRIS is not just about financial technology—it is about diplomacy, identity, and survival in a shifting order. The lesson from Brazil’s Pix and Indonesia’s own experience with U.S. trade pressure is clear: building sovereign payment systems comes with risks. Yet if managed with prudence, Indonesia can use QRIS as both a shield of sovereignty and a bridge of inclusion.
The question that remains—for Indonesia and the world—is whether QRIS will become another fault line in great-power rivalry, or a model for how the Global South can claim agency while staying open. In a multiplex world, the answer depends not only on technology, but on how wisely nations wield it.
