Tokyo (VNA) – Japan and the Association ofSoutheast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries will integrate QR code payments from2025, aiming to facilitate spending between these countries without the need toexchange currency, which is time-consuming, especially for tourists, accordingto Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI).

A representative of METI said that the ministry is indiscussions with governments and central banks of countries around the world,including Southeast Asian countries in this regard. The Cashless PromotionCouncil is accelerating the progress of building a payment system that allowsthe connection between domestic services and international ones, the representativesaid, elaborating that it is expected to be completed in 2024.

In Japan, QR code payment services are being provided by anumber of businesses such as Paypay and Rakuten Pay. Accordingly, Japaneseconsumers will scan the store's QR code with their smartphone to pay online butit only applies to the registered service. Overcoming this shortcoming, the new system will help consumers pay normally for any type of service.

Five ASEAN member countries, namely Singapore, Indonesia,Thailand, Malaysia and Philippines, signed a memorandum of understanding onpayment integration between the countries in 2022 and began interaction inseveral areas. Japan is also expected to promote negotiations with ASEANcountries to soon deploy this type of service between Japan and ASEAN.

According to METI's latest data, the amount of non-cashpayments in Japan in 2022 is about 111 trillion JPY (about 750 billion USD),of which payments using QR codes and other codes account for only 2,6%.Meanwhile, according to Google statistics, the value of digital payments insix major Southeast Asian countries reached 858 billion USD in 2022. A surveyby Fidelity National Information Services (FIS), a US financial servicescompany, showed that digital payment, including QR codes, accounts for 28% oftotal payments in Indonesia and 23% in Thailand./.