SINGAPORE – OCBC Bank aims to step up the number of cross-border QR payments it facilitates, as these transactions join the ranks of credit and debit cards as a popular payment mode among Singapore travellers.
South-east Asia’s second-largest bank by assets said on March 26 that it expects to facilitate 250,000 cross-border QR payments in 2024, which will be a quadrupling of the number of such transactions in 2023. Its peers DBS Bank and UOB told The Straits Times that they likewise expect a surge in QR transactions.
OCBC currently offers five cross-border QR payment products on its mobile OCBC Digital app.
It has, in the last 12 months, integrated cross-border payment platforms Alipay+, UnionPay International, Thailand’s PromptPay, Malaysia’s DuitNow and Indonesia’s Quick Response Code Indonesian Standard (QRIS) into the app.
Customers with Singapore bank accounts can make QR payments when travelling abroad through these payment networks, which in total cover millions of merchants in more than 40 countries.
Travellers can view the live exchange rate on the app, and the amount to be deducted in Singapore dollars, before making payment.
In 2023, the number of cross-border QR payments on the OCBC Digital app increased by an average of 65 per cent month on month, while the value of these payments rose by an average of 80 per cent.
OCBC said that the use of QR code payments, which are accessible and cheap to set up, will continue to grow.
“Two macroeconomic trends will continue to spur usage: the rapid proliferation of QR code payments in the region, and the anticipated spike in travellers to China, where QR codes are a mainstay in the payment landscape,” it said.
The mutual 30-day visa-free arrangement between Singapore and China that took effect in February is expected to further increase travel between the two nations, added OCBC.
China accounted for 57 per cent, or the largest share, of cross-border QR payments made using the OCBC Digital app in 2023. There has also been a sevenfold increase in such payments since the bank tied up with Alipay+ in September.
Mr Sunny Quek, OCBC’s head of global consumer financial services, said that the payment landscape is evolving, and travel is becoming the norm again.
“Our partnerships with Alipay+ and UnionPay International have significantly expanded coverage for our customers who travel, especially to China,” he said, adding that the bank will continue to look out for strategic partnerships.
Besides China, the other top destinations where OCBC customers made QR payments in 2023 were Thailand, which accounted for 20 per cent of such transactions, and Malaysia, which made up 18 per cent.
The volume of QR code payments in South-east Asia is expected to grow from 13 billion in 2023 to 90 billion in 2028, amid commitments by countries to create a regional QR cross-border payment network to bolster financial connectivity.
Asked what steps OCBC is taking to grow usage of QR payments, Mr Quek said the bank will increase awareness of such options among Singapore-based customers visiting overseas destinations, as well as foreigners in the bank’s customer base here who are travelling to their home countries.
“We are doing this through media campaigns both in Singapore and overseas. We also make use of data to ascertain our customers’ travel intent and to make (customers aware) about these features via digital channels,” he said.
Meanwhile, DBS expects to facilitate more than 300,000 cross-border QR payments in 2024, with the bank noting that the majority of total cross-border QR payments are made by DBS PayLah! users.
Mr Anthony Seow, head of payments and platforms at DBS’ consumer banking group in Singapore, noted that travel is returning to pre-pandemic levels in most markets.
The convenience and transparency of making QR payments also appeal to users, he added, noting that the app automatically shows the exchange rate and amount in the foreign currency when a user scans a QR code overseas with PayLah!.
Users are able to make QR payments at close to 10 million scan-to-pay acceptance points in Thailand and Malaysia. They can also scan and pay at the bank’s ecosystem partner UnionPay’s existing QR code payment network of 40 million brick-and-mortar retailers in 47 markets.
Ms Jacquelyn Tan, head of group personal financial services at UOB, noted that the bank has launched QR payments for users to pay peers and merchants via Malaysia’s DuitNow system, Thailand’s PromptPay and QRIS in Indonesia.
“We have seen strong growth not just from the consumer end, but also from merchant adoption as well. As such, we expect overall cross-border payment volumes to grow by five times this year,” she said.
Singapore UOB cardholders spent over 40 per cent more in the bank’s four key markets of Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam in 2023 compared with 2022, said Ms Tan.
