Enjoying seamless QR payments in Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia

UOB is expanding its cross-border QR payment service to Indonesia and Thailand, as well as its real-time fund transfer service to Malaysia.

Customers in Singapore can now make payments by scanning Indonesia’s standard QR or Thailand’s PromptPay QR through their UOB TMRW app when they travel to these countries, just as they scan and pay with Nets QR back home.

The new services follow the launch of QR code payment linkage between Singapore’s Nets QR and Indonesia’s Quick Response Code Indonesian Standard (QRIS), which was announced by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and Bank Indonesia last Friday (Nov 17).

Cross-border QR payments between Singapore and Thailand are facilitated by the deepened collaboration between Nets and Thailand’s inter-bank payment infrastructure, ITMX, in August last year.

In a separate announcement on Friday, the MAS and Bank Negara Malaysia agreed to further the linkage between the two countries’ national real-time payment systems – PayNow and DuitNow – to allow people to transfer money across the two countries with their mobile phones.

As part of a phased industry approach, UOB’s Duitnow fund transfer service with Malaysia will be available to all UOB customers in Singapore by the end of January 2024.

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Unmet needs for small payments

UOB is a pioneer in the launch of cross-border fast payment services as it sees the growth potential in Asean’s digital payment sector.

It was one of the participating banks when the cross-border QR code payment linkage between Singapore and Malaysia was launched in March 2023.

From April to September this year, the number of UOB Duitnow QR users grew 1.5 times, with transaction counts up by more than two times. Total transaction value was also up almost 2.5 times over the same period, which the bank sees as a strong demand for the service.

“Users in Malaysia primarily used UOB Duitnow QR payment at local small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) like mom-and-pop stores, and smaller eateries including coffee shops and snack kiosks,” said Jacquelyn Tan, UOB’s head of group personal financial services.

For customers traveling within the region, there is a demand “fuelled by the desire for a convenient, no-frills, and secure cross-border payment platform for smaller transactions” that allow them to grab a quick meal or make small purchases at night markets – without the hassle of carrying cash.

As the demand for convenience and security mirrors in both the Indonesian and Thai markets, Tan is optimistic about the growth prospects of UOB’s cross-border QR payment services facilitated by the Nets-QRIS tie-up and the Nets-PromptPay linkage.

QRIS is accepted by more than 26 million merchants in Indonesia. It has substantial coverage in popular destinations such as Bali and Batam, which are frequented by thousands of Singaporeans each year.

In Thailand, the PromptPay system covers over eight million merchants. These include those at the Siam Center, Siam Paragon, Siam Square and MBK Center shopping malls, as well as the popular Chatuchak Market and Asiatique the Riverfront night bazaar, where credit and debit cards are not widely accepted.

Latent demand for cross-border remittance

Tan pointed out the latent demand for “a lower-quantum funds transfer service” that can be used by people such as overseas workers who want to remit allowances home.

She is bullish about the potential of UOB’s fund transfer services, given how well received the bank’s PromptPay fund transfer service to Thailand has been since its launch in 2021. The service currently commands a dominant 60 per cent market share among Singaporean banks in cross-border fund transfer transaction values between the two countries.

Tan noted that users are drawn to the zero transaction fees, real-time processing, and a high level of security offered by the bank.

“Another advantage that UOB fund-transfer users enjoy is competitive foreign exchange rates, which ensure an equitable transfer of funds to their recipients overseas,” she added.

And with a significant number of Malaysians living and working in Singapore, Tan is confident that the new UOB Duitnow fund transfer service will achieve strong growth by offering a swift, secure and hassle-free way for them to remit money back home.

All-in-one app

UOB has incorporated many features in its all-in-one banking app UOB TMRW to ensure customers have a swift and safe experience when making payments overseas.

The new transaction notification alerts users about their most recent transactions, while the duplicate charge alert highlights the possibility of them paying for the same transaction twice, minimising the risk of them falling victim to scams and fraud.

The easy search function allows users to find all transactions made in a single country, whether by card or QR payments, using the denominated currency.

This enables users to locate all transactions in one place and easily tally their total spending, eliminating the need to filter through the statements of their debit or credit accounts and various QR payment accounts separately.

“One key differentiator of UOB is that we are harnessing our artificial intelligence and machine learning capabilities to deliver hyper-personalised insights and curated deals,” said Tan.

The hyper-personalised recommendations feature is able to put forward the most relevant merchants’ deals locally as well as overseas to customers via the UOB TMRW app, based on customers’ spending patterns. This helps customers to maximise their savings even when they are in a different country.

Given the growing trend of regional travel, UOB sees many opportunities to enhance customer experiences across the five countries in South-east Asia it operates in – Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam.

“As the bank with the largest consumer banking footprint in Asean, the expansion of cross-border services enables us to offer a comprehensive suite of onshore as well as offshore propositions to our customers in Singapore and around the region,” said Tan.