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April 23, 2025 | 11:34 am
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) has complained about the financial services system in Indonesia, including QRIS. The spotlight on the financial services system contained in the National Trade Estimate (NTE) Report on Foreign Trade Barriers 2025 is considered one of the factors inhibiting trade between the two countries.
What are USTR's criticisms of the financial services system in Indonesia? Here are the details:
Bank Ownership
USTR highlighted the Financial Services Authority (OJK) Regulation Number 56/03/2016 which limits bank ownership to a maximum of 40 percent by one shareholder, both domestic and foreign shareholders. They also mentioned the authority of OJK which can provide exceptions as regulated in OJK Regulation Number 12/POJK.03/2021.
"OJK Regulation Number 12/POJK.03/2021 has increased the limit on foreign ownership of commercial banks to 99 percent by first reviewing the banking supervisory unit at OJK," said USTR in its report.
Private Credit
USTR also touched on foreign ownership of private credit reporting companies of up to 49 percent as regulated in Bank Indonesia (BI) Circular Letter (SE) Number 15/49/DPKL. In addition, BI Regulation Number 18/40/PBI/2016 which limits foreign ownership of payment companies to 20 percent was also questioned.
National Payment Gateway
BI Regulation Number 19/08/2017 concerning the National Payment Gateway (NPG) requires all retail debit and credit transactions to be processed through a GPN switching institution located in Indonesia and licensed by BI. The same regulation also imposes a 20 percent foreign ownership restriction on companies wishing to obtain a switching permit in the GPN.
"BI Regulation Number 19/10/PADG/2017 mandates that foreign companies form partnership agreements with Indonesian GPN switching institutions that are licensed to process domestic retail transactions through the GPN," said USTR.
QRIS
USTR also assessed that the implementation of the Quick Response Code Indonesian Standard (QRIS) for all QR code payments in Indonesia has raised concerns for payment providers and US banks. The use of QRIS is stipulated in BI Regulation Number 21/2019.
"During the BI QR code (QRIS) policy-making process, international stakeholders were not informed of the nature of potential changes or given the opportunity to explain their views. Including, how the system can be designed to interact most smoothly with existing payment systems," said USTR.
Payment System Blueprint
USTR sees trade and investment barriers from the issuance of BI Regulation Number 22/23/PBU/2020 concerning the BI Payment System Blueprint 2025 which came into effect in July 2021. This is because the regulation applies a risk-based categorization to payment system activities and licensing systems.
"This regulation imposes a foreign ownership limit of 85 percent for non-bank payment service operators, also known as front-end payment companies, but foreign investors may only own 49 percent of the shares," said USTR in its report.
Due to the same BI Regulation, stakeholders also expressed concerns about the lack of BI discussion before issuing the policy. BI Regulation Number 22/23/PBU/2020 also sets a foreign ownership limit for payment system infrastructure operators or backend business entities of 20 percent.
Credit Cards
USTR also questioned BI's policy that mandates that government credit cards be processed through GPN since May 2023. In addition, the Indonesian central bank also requires the use and issuance of credit cards by local governments (pemda).
"US payment companies are concerned that this policy could limit access to the use of electronic payment options from the US," as stated in the USTR complaint.
Editor's Choice: Indonesian Economist: QRIS Promotes Inclusion, Not a U.S.-Claimed Trade Barrier
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