SINGAPORE: Singapore and Indonesia launched cross-border payment services Friday, the countries’ central banks said, as part of a regional drive to boost connectivity.

Customers of a dozen banks in Singapore and Indonesia will now be able to make payments to merchants in both countries by scanning QR codes, Bank Indonesia and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) said in a joint statement.

The system “will promote cross-border e-commerce activities and tourism spending across Singapore and Indonesia”, MAS Managing Director Ravi Menon said in the statement issued on Friday.

In the first half of 2023, over a million travellers entered Singapore from Indonesia — the largest economy in Southeast Asia and the fourth most populous country in the world with 270 million people.