Travellers heading to Bali are being encouraged to use a new payment system that is booming in Indonesia and taking the worry out of handling big wads of cash.
Australians have long faced the challenge of handling and calculating large amounts of local currency when visiting Indonesian islands, but those days are quickly being overtaken following the introduction of an enhanced 5G network and a new currency converter payment app.
The new QRIS system is a QR-code-based digital payment system that allows international visitors to access their bank accounts and use their home currency to make purchases or settle accounts via their smart devices.
Widely adopted by travellers throughout Asia, take-up numbers for the new system are surging for visitors from Malaysia, Thailand, and Singapore.
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Aussies are being encouraged set up an account and transfer funds to enable them to pay stores, markets, and cafes displaying the QRIS logo.
The Indonesia Tourist Travel Pack is available at Bali’s Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport, and contains Indonesian SIM cards with mobile data and phone numbers, as well as chip-based electronic money through an e-wallet.
This access allows Aussie tourists to funnel into the Quick Response Code Indonesian Standard (QRIS) system as it continues to be rolled out to more countries around the world.
In addition to the convenience of an automatic currency exchange, the safety benefits of not having to wander busy tourist precincts with large amounts of rupiah in people’s pockets is immeasurable.
“Data shows that inbound cross-border QRIS transactions from Malaysia increased by 196 per cent year-on-year, followed by Thailand at 183 per cent, and Singapore at 156 per cent,” Head of the Bank Indonesia (Bali), Erwin Soeriadimadja told reports via the Bali Sun.
“Bank Indonesia continues to expand the use of QRIS Cross Border through collaboration with various transaction service providers in tourist areas, while service expansion is currently being tested in China and South Korea.
“Throughout 2025, QRIS transactions reached 172 million with 1.1 million users. By December 2025, the number of merchants had reached 1 million and is targeted to increase to 1.1 million by 2026,” Mr Soeriadimadja added.
QRIS is being used across Indonesia in all walks of life from the smallest vendor to the largest hotels.
Bank Indonesia Bali has a target to reach 140 million QRIS merchants by the end of 2026.
“Digital innovations like QRIS Cross Border and NFC are strategic bridges to ensure that every transaction made by foreign tourists in Bali can be directly felt by businesses, even in remote villages, efficiently and securely.” Bank BPD Bali President Director Nyoman Sudharma said.
The QRIS System has also been a game-changer for Indonesian nationals, who can now use the cashless system to pay for everything from groceries to utilities.
Tourists are still encouraged to carry a small amount of cash to use in situations where the QRIS system is not in place or to tip workers.
