TECH – On May 28, 2025, Project Nexus was officially launched by central banks from Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Thailand. This initiative, spearheaded by the Bank for International Settlements Innovation Hub (BISIH), aims to connect domestic instant payment systems (IPS) across borders, enabling real-time, low-cost international transactions.
Project Nexus seeks to standardize the way IPS connect, allowing a single connection to the Nexus platform to reach all other countries on the network. This approach eliminates the need for custom connections between each pair of countries, significantly accelerating the growth of instant cross-border payments.
The Nexus Scheme Organisation (NSO), established in Singapore, will manage the project’s live implementation stages. The BIS will not own or manage any of the NSO’s activities but will play a technical advisory role, providing detailed technical documentation covering implementation guides, ISO 20022 message, and API specifications.
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In Indonesia, the Quick Response Code Indonesia Standard (QRIS) has been instrumental in unifying various payment methods under a single QR code system since its launch in 2019. By 2024, QRIS transactions surged by 226.54%, with over 50 million users and 32.71 million merchants onboarded.
With the advent of Project Nexus, QRIS’s role in cross-border transactions is poised for enhancement. The integration of QRIS into the Nexus framework could streamline international payments for Indonesian users, allowing seamless transactions with participating countries. This development aligns with ASEAN’s broader goal of integrating QR code payment systems to facilitate local currency transactions and reduce reliance on certain currencies, particularly the US dollar.
As Project Nexus moves towards live implementation, the collaboration between QRIS and Nexus could revolutionize cross-border payments in the region, offering faster, more transparent, and cost-effective solutions for consumers and businesses alike.
Source: CNBC Indonesia
