Timor-Leste and Indonesia central banks sign MoU to explore linking TuQR with QRIS
Key points
- Banco Central de Timor-Leste and Bank Indonesia signed a memorandum of understanding on payment systems and digital financial innovation in Jakarta on 25 September 2026.
- One of the initiatives named is to explore cross-border QRIS, which would connect the two countries' QR payment systems; no timetable was announced.
- It is BCTL's second payment-connectivity MoU in two weeks, after one with Cambodia's central bank on 12 September.
Facts
Bank Indonesia (BI) Governor Destry Damayanti and Banco Central de Timor-Leste (BCTL) Governor Hélder Lopes signed the memorandum of understanding on 25 September 2026 during the FEKDI x IFSE 2026 festival in Jakarta (sources: Bank Indonesia press release No. 28/198/DKom; Government of Timor-Leste). The MoU covers payment systems, digital financial innovation, information exchange and institutional relations. BI names exploration of cross-border QRIS as one way to implement the cooperation, to make bilateral payments easier, more efficient, secure and inclusive (source: Bank Indonesia).
The Government of Timor-Leste says the connection could link BCTL's Timor Unique QR (TuQR), launched on 12 September 2026 on the Ti-FAST instant payment system, with Indonesia's QRIS Cross-Border. Implementation depends on building the technical, regulatory and operational mechanisms for interoperability, and neither central bank gave a launch date (source: Government of Timor-Leste).
Analysis
Cambodia shows what a working QR link can do: the value of Bakong cross-border transactions reached KHR 111.4tn in 2025, a change of +235.3% year on year. 1 Timor-Leste starts from a much smaller base, with TuQR live for under a month.
The corridor matters more for trade and travel than for remittances. In the first half of 2026 Timor-Leste received USD 104.5 m from workers abroad, and the United Kingdom and Australia together accounted for 73.5% (UK 40.5%, Australia 33%) of that inflow. 2 A QRIS link would therefore mainly serve merchant payments by travellers and traders crossing the land border with Indonesia, not the main remittance corridors.
Implications
Counterpoints and uncertainties
An MoU is not an operating link. Interoperability needs technical standards, a settlement arrangement between a dollarised economy and the rupiah, and anti-money-laundering controls, and Timor-Leste's TuQR participant list is still being built up. BCTL is pursuing links with both Cambodia and Indonesia at once, which could stretch a small central bank's capacity.
Figures: see definitions
- Bakong cross-border value, y/y: +235.3%. Year-on-year change. Bakong retail payments. Basis date: 31 Dec 2025. Source: NBC Financial Stability Review 2025 (2026-03-28)
FSR 2025, Executive Summary (p. vii).
- UK and Australia share of remittance inflows: 73.5% (UK 40.5%, Australia 33%). Combined share of the United Kingdom and Australia in remittance inflows, January–June 2026 (BCTL, as reported by TATOLI). Timor-Leste, balance of payments. Basis date: 30 Jun 2026. Source: TATOLI: Remesa husi traballadór timoroan iha semestre dahuluk 2026 hamutuk millaun $104,5 (2026-09-10), reporting a BCTL presentation
Sum of the UK (40.5%) and Australia (33%) shares reported by BCTL; the TATOLI report rounds the combined share to 73%.
Sources
- Bank Indonesia: Bank Indonesia dan Banco Central de Timor-Leste Perkuat Kerja Sama Sistem Pembayaran dan Inovasi Keuangan Digital (No. 28/198/DKom, 2026-09-25)primary
- Government of Timor-Leste: Bancos Centrais de Timor-Leste e Indonésia reforçam cooperação para desenvolver pagamentos digitais transfronteiriços (2026-09-29)primary
- ANTARA: BI dan Bank Sentral Timor-Leste perkuat kerja sama sistem pembayaran (2026-09-25)
Reports are for information only and are not investment advice.