WeChat Pay now legal in Indonesia, says BI

• Jan 17, 2020

Bank Indonesia (BI) has officially granted China-based e-wallet heavyweight WeChat Pay a permit to operate in the country.

BI deputy governor Sugeng said the central bank granted the permit on Jan. 1.

“WeChat Pay is now legal [in the country],” he said on Saturday as quoted by kompas.com via Kontan.

Regulators agreed to grant the permit after WeChat Pay formed a partnership with private Bank CIMB Niaga. The bank will serve as an “acquirer” in charge of processing each transaction made through the foreign e-wallet platform.

WeChat Pay’s arrival to the country’s burgeoning cashless ecosystem coincided with the implementation of BI’s Quick Response Indonesia Standard (QRIS) code, a nationwide standard QR payment system. This will allow Indonesian customers to use WeChat Pay at merchants that support QRIS.

“[WeChat Pay] is already connected with QRIS,” Sugeng said.

Prior to receiving BI’s official permit, WeChat Pay had been operating illegally in the country as the e-wallet was the go-to cashless payment system for a number of Chinese visitors.

Alipay – another China-based e-wallet backed by technology giant Alibaba – has yet to be granted an operational permit from BI.

“No development on that front,” Sugeng said. (rfa)

Source: https://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2020/01/16/wechat-pay-now-legal-in-indonesia-says-bi.html