Japan, Cambodia Plan to Discuss Interoperable QR Code Cashless Payment Services

The Yomiuri Shimbun

17:44 JST, December 18, 2023

Japan and Cambodia plan to discuss the mutual use of their standardized QR code payment services.

Aiming to promote the nation’s standardized QR payment system abroad, the Japanese government wants to expand cooperation with member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Such an initiative is expected to lead to an increase in consumption by foreign visitors to Japan and enhance convenience for Japanese traveling overseas.

The Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry and the National Bank of Cambodia will soon sign a memorandum of cooperation and begin exchanging information and cooperating on technical aspects, paving the way for interoperation of the two countries’ QR code payment systems. Both nations aim to launch the services by April 2025, when the 2025 Osaka-Kansai Expo begins.

The plan calls for the two countries to utilize their own standardized QR code payment systems. Japan will use the QR code payment system called JPQR, launched in 2020, which allows multiple payment services with a single QR code, including PayPay, Rakuten Pay and D Payment. The initiative will allow Japanese QR code payment services to be accepted overseas, while foreign visitors to Japan will benefit from using cashless payment services from their home countries.

Only cashless payments will be accepted at the Expo. Therefore, the initiative is also aimed at building a transaction system that is convenient for foreign visitors to the Expo.

Electronic payments are more prevalent in the ASEAN region, where they account for about 20% of all transactions, compared to about 10% in Japan.

In Cambodia, the National Bank in 2022 launched KHQR, a unified standard for QR code payments. A recent survey shows that more than 30% of the Cambodian population now utilizes QR code payments.

Japan and Indonesia signed a memorandum of understanding for the same kind of initiative in December last year and have already begun discussions on the matter.