[Indonesia’s] QRIS Goes Global: Between Pride and Geopolitical Peril
“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.”
Source: Modern Diplomacy