Jakarta. Indonesia has witnessed many major changes over the past 10 years of the outgoing leader Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, but one of the most noticeable changes is how the population has increasingly gone cashless.

Indonesia has the so-called Quick Response Code Indonesian Standard (QRIS) which lets people simply scan a QR barcode to make their purchase. QRIS -- pronounced as “kris” -- has become commonplace in Indonesia compared to its launch in August 2019, and is not only limited to the large stores. Even the small street vendors in Indonesia already have slapped QRIS barcode stickers on their carts.

The Covid-19 pandemic has forced many shops to only accept digital payments. Although the government already lifted the restrictions a long time ago, many shops have already gotten used to only accepting cashless payments. The growing cashless trend should also be no surprise as Indonesia's internet users have more than doubled compared to when Jokowi first became president in 2014. 

Bank Indonesia, the country’s central bank, recently reported that QRIS users across the archipelago had totaled 53.3 million people as of the third quarter of 2024. About 34.23 million merchants are also accepting QRIS payments. QIRS transactions have also soared by up to 209.61 percent year-on-year, reaching Rp 188.36 trillion (nearly $12.2 billion) in Q3-2024. Many of these merchants are also small-scale sellers, particularly those selling food and beverages. 

“Over the past 5 years, we have been witnessing a swift digital transformation. Digital payments and finances have saved the national economy from the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic,” Bank Indonesia’s governor Perry Warjiyo said, not long ago.

In the past, Jokowi had said that he wanted to see Indonesian micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) not get left out in the cashless boom. MSMEs contribute approximately 61 percent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP). This is equivalent to around Rp 9,580 trillion. Jokowi also wishes for these MSMEs to take advantage of Indonesia's QR code payments with other countries. For reference, Indonesia's QRIS is now connected to some of its ASEAN counterparts, including Thailand and Malaysia. In other words, Thai and Malaysian travelers can pay in their respective currencies by scanning the available QR codes in their mobile phones. The same goes for the Indonesian tourists when traveling to the said two countries.

“I’m pushing for this QR payment linkage. This will make it easier for our MSMEs and tourism sectors when interacting with international tourists,” Jokowi said, when launching the cross-border QR payment systems in Jakarta back in 2022.