Indonesia prepares digital rupiah for cashless payments
Indonesia’s central bank has announced plans to issue a state-backed digital currency for use in non-cash payments across the country.
The bank’s governor, Perry Warjiyo, recently talked about the idea to launch such a digital rupiah as the country’s population is readily taking up the various digital payment solutions offered mostly by startups in Indonesia.
Noting the rupiah remains the only legal currency in Indonesia, the governor said the bank would regulate the proposed digital rupiah in the same way as for cash transactions.
The bank has now turned its focus to studying the benefits of a digital currency, as well as the knock-on effect on payment systems and the wider monetary system, while addressing issues around the readiness of the financial infrastructure currently in place.
Surge in digital banking transactions
Digital banking transactions in Indonesia have leapt by over 60 per cent annually, with the digital currency being issued against a backdrop of growing interest in digital currencies.
The move comes at a time of increasing efforts towards launching central bank digital currencies from central banks around the world, most notably in China where plans are already at an advanced stage of testing. Bank of Canada and the central banks of Uruguay, Thailand, Venezuela, Sweden and Singapore, among others, are also looking into the possibility of introducing a central bank-issued digital currency.
Digital currency in Indonesia was outlawed as a form of payment in 2017, despite digital currency trading remaining legal in the country, underlining the government’s mixed approach to regulating the sector.
Indonesia’s central bank has announced plans to issue a state-backed digital currency for use in non-cash payments across the country. The bank’s governor, Perry Warjiyo, recently talked about the idea to launch such a digital rupiah as the country's population is readily taking up the various digital payment solutions offered mostly by startups in Indonesia. Noting the rupiah remains the only legal currency in Indonesia, the governor said the bank would regulate the proposed digital rupiah in the same way as for cash transactions. The bank has now turned its focus to studying the benefits of a digital currency, as...
Indonesia’s central bank has announced plans to issue a state-backed digital currency for use in non-cash payments across the country.
The bank’s governor, Perry Warjiyo, recently talked about the idea to launch such a digital rupiah as the country’s population is readily taking up the various digital payment solutions offered mostly by startups in Indonesia.
Noting the rupiah remains the only legal currency in Indonesia, the governor said the bank would regulate the proposed digital rupiah in the same way as for cash transactions.
The bank has now turned its focus to studying the benefits of a digital currency, as well as the knock-on effect on payment systems and the wider monetary system, while addressing issues around the readiness of the financial infrastructure currently in place.
Surge in digital banking transactions
Digital banking transactions in Indonesia have leapt by over 60 per cent annually, with the digital currency being issued against a backdrop of growing interest in digital currencies.
The move comes at a time of increasing efforts towards launching central bank digital currencies from central banks around the world, most notably in China where plans are already at an advanced stage of testing. Bank of Canada and the central banks of Uruguay, Thailand, Venezuela, Sweden and Singapore, among others, are also looking into the possibility of introducing a central bank-issued digital currency.
Digital currency in Indonesia was outlawed as a form of payment in 2017, despite digital currency trading remaining legal in the country, underlining the government’s mixed approach to regulating the sector.
