BC Card Selected as Exclusive Overseas QR Payment Partner in Indonesia... Entering ASEAN Fintech Market

Connecting Payment Networks to Enable QR Code Use at Merchants in Both Countries Without Currency Exchange or Card Presentation

[Asia Economy Reporter Yu Je-hoon] BC Card has been exclusively selected as the overseas partner for the overseas digital payment project promoted by the Indonesian government.

BC Card announced on the 26th that it signed key contracts with Alto and Finnet in Jakarta, Indonesia, on the 24th and 25th (local time) to promote Indonesia's national digital payment project.

Alto, established in 1993, is Indonesia's largest payment network operator, and Finnet is a major state-owned electronic payment gateway (PG) company. Key officials, including CEO Choi Won-seok, Patriko Baron, Vice President of Alto, and Ariboo Romdam, Vice President of Finnet, attended the signing ceremony.

Through this contract, BC Card will actively participate in revitalizing domestic and international digital payments in Indonesia by ▲building a QR payment system ▲expanding QR merchant infrastructure ▲establishing an acquiring system ▲transferring digital platform operation know-how.

Currently, QR payments in Indonesia are rapidly increasing, centered around 'QRIS,' a standard QR code system developed by the Bank of Indonesia in 2019. The Indonesian government has exclusively selected BC Card as the overseas partner for QR payment cooperation to globally expand QRIS. According to the company, this is the result of the Payment Association under the Bank of Indonesia, which oversees this project, recognizing BC Card's technological capabilities and stability in the Indonesian payment business.

The QRIS global expansion project connects payment networks to allow merchants in both countries to use QR codes without separate currency exchange or presenting physical cards. BC Card customers can make payments using the simple payment application Paybook QR when visiting Indonesia, and Indonesian domestic financial app QR codes can also be used at BC QR merchants in Korea.

For example, local Blackpink fans in Indonesia can make overseas direct purchases through online malls such as Weverse Shop in Korea using only their domestic QR codes, and conversely, domestic sellers can use this as an overseas reverse direct purchase channel, allowing overseas consumers to purchase easily. If reverse direct purchases become active, additional sales for small and medium-sized enterprises engaged in related industries are expected to expand up to several hundred billion won.

Previously, after joining the KT Group in 2011, BC Card successfully completed the construction of payment processing infrastructure for Mandiri, Indonesia's largest state-owned bank, as part of the group's global strategy. Indonesia consists of about 20,000 islands and has a young consumer base with an average age of 29, leading to rapid growth in the mobile-based digital payment market.

Following last year's acquisition of Wirecard Vietnam, BC Card plans to actively promote a global project (N2N) connecting payment networks with Southeast Asian countries such as Thailand and Malaysia, based on its successful experience with Indonesia's national project. CEO Choi said, "We will continue to provide Indonesian financial consumers with new digital financial experiences beyond existing payment methods and solidify our position as a global network operator."