QRIS merchant count in Bali tops target: BI

The number of merchants adopting the Quick Response Code Indonesian Standard (QRIS) reached 363,555 as of November 5, 2021, exceeding the target of 363,100 for this year, the Bank Indonesia (BI) Representative Office in Bali province reported.

“Astungkara (Thank God), Bali has achieved and even exceeded the target set,” head of BI’s Bali representative office, Trisno Nugroho, said here on Friday.

QRIS merchants in Bali are dominated by micro-businesses (45 percent), followed by small businesses (30 percent), medium businesses (11 percent), big businesses (4.6 percent), and others (0.3 percent), he informed.

Of the nine districts/towns in the province, three regions with the most QRIS merchants are Denpasar City with 159,456 users (44 percent), Badung District with 99,107 users (28 percent), and Gianyar District with 36,644 users (10 percent), he said.

Meanwhile, Buleleng District has 22,655 users (6 percent), Tabanan District with 18,036 users (5 percent), Karangasem District with 8,424 units (2 percent), Jembrana District with 7,307 users (2 percent), Klunkung District with 6,939 units (2 percent), and Bangil District has the least users at 4,987 (1 percent), he added.

The volume and value of QRIS transactions in Bali have continued to increase with the monthly average reaching 407 transactions worth Rp32.4 billion, reflecting a twofold growth as compared to the average in 2020, Nugroho said.

The increase in QRIS merchant users is inseparable from the education and information dissemination conducted by BI along with the Payment System Service Provider (PJSP), including through social media, he added.

Although the QRIS target has been achieved, he said that he will continue to boost digitalization in all economic sectors, including the education sector.

“We will strongly push this QRIS to again exceed the target by December. I hope it will nearly touch as many as 400 thousand merchants,” the former BI Jakarta representative office head noted.

He said he is optimistic that digitalization in all economic sectors in Bali can be expedited since the millennial customer count has reached over 50 percent.

Nugroho said that he has spoken with the head of VIII Region Higher Education Service Institution (LLDikti), I Nengah Dasi Astawa, to boost the digitalization of the payment system in all higher education institutions and academies in Bali province.

“We, with a number of stakeholders comprising regional administrations, business associations, higher education institutions, community and so on, will strive to realize Bali as a Digital Island, so various digital transactions can use QRIS,” he remarked.

Source: Antara News