KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysian tourists have topped the list of foreign users making cashless payments through Indonesia’s cross-border Quick Response Code Indonesian Standard (QRIS) system, according to Bank Indonesia (BI).

The central bank said Malaysia recorded the highest inbound transaction value between January and May 2025, totalling US$20.5 million.

The figure was significantly higher than Singapore’s US$0.99 million and Thailand’s US$0.7 million, reflecting Malaysia’s growing enthusiasm for digital payments while travelling in Indonesia.

BI Deputy Director for Payment System Policy Himawan Kusprianto said the surge was driven by shopping and travel activities among Malaysian visitors.

“Malaysians are the biggest users of this cross-border QRIS,” he said during a media training event in Bukittinggi, Padang last Saturday.

He added that most transactions took place in Bandung and Jakarta, where Malaysian tourists often use QRIS to pay for shopping or to ride the Whoosh high-speed train.

“Malaysia is now leading in inbound use, which means Malaysians are spending a lot here. 

The usage in Bandung and Tanah Abang is quite massive, possibly because of the Whoosh train, the only high-speed rail in ASEAN,” he said.

Inbound transactions refer to payments made by foreign tourists using their home-country e-wallets to scan QRIS codes in Indonesia.

Outbound transactions, on the other hand, occur when Indonesians use QRIS to pay overseas.

Data also showed that inbound QRIS payments, made by foreign visitors in Indonesia, currently dominate outbound transactions made by Indonesians abroad.

As of 25 August, inbound cross-border QRIS payments had reached Rp 123.4 billion across 554,662 transactions.

Outbound payments, meanwhile, stood at Rp 43.9 billion with 130,882 transactions.

Apart from Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore were among the most active countries in the regional payment link.

“Transactions with Singapore remain fairly balanced. Some merchants there still can’t use QR codes, but adoption is improving, and we expect stronger growth ahead,” he added.