Can China’s Alipay, WeChat cash in as Indonesia embraces QR codes?
- Indonesia is playing catch-up with its regional rivals when it comes to cashless payments
- But there are rich rewards on offer for companies that unlock its potential
Who would have thought paying for a bubble tea could be such a revolutionary act?
Probably not Nabila Yustikarani, a 20-year-old entrepreneur in Jakarta, as she swipes the now familiar black and white barcode-like square in front of her smartphone, in the process earning almost half her money back.
“I just earned 14,000 rupiah (US$1) in cashback from my 31,000 (US$2.1) bubble tea purchase, and I like paying for stuff with my GoPay, it’s faster and less of a hassle than cash,” she says, referring to the mobile wallet app that is helping Indonesia, slowly but surely, embrace the world of cashless payment.
Indonesian shoppers like Yustikarani are using their smartphones to pay for everything from sushi to cinema tickets, thanks largely to the arrival of quick-response (QR) codes popularised by GoJek, the Indonesian ride-hailing and on-demand service giant that spawned GoPay.
And while Indonesia has a long way to go before catching up to the likes of China, where QR codes are ubiquitous, its uptake of cashless payments has been accelerated by the kind of cashback promotions enjoyed by Yustikarani on her bubble tea.
