A store in Thailand accepts payment by QR code. Illustration photo: Nikkei Asia/TTXVN
This will facilitate cross-border transactions across a region with a total population of about 500 million people, the BIS, a Switzerland-based international organization, said in a press conference on March 23.
The announcement comes after a successful pilot of Project Nexus, which involved the Bank of Italy, the Bank of Malaysia, and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), as well as payment system operators PayNet and Banking Computer Services.
Test payments were made using only the recipient's mobile phone number or company registration number, via the Eurozone Monetary Authority's (Eurosystem) instant payment system, Malaysia's real-time retail payments platform and Singapore's fast and secure transfer payment system.
Also at the press conference, Ms. Cecilia Skinsley, head of the BIS Innovation Center, said that the purpose of the project is to allow users to make payments using the domestic instant payment system, and complete transactions within one minute.
In addition, Assistant Governor of Bank Negara Malaysia, Mr. Suhaimi Ali added, the next phase of Project Nexus will enable faster, cheaper and more accessible cross-border payments.
“We are well positioned to accelerate the development of this next-generation payment connectivity model, which will bring significant benefits to the people of Malaysia and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN),” said Suhaimi Ali.
On a related note, Sopnendu Mohanty, chief fintech officer at the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), said that the next phase of testing by the five ASEAN central banks will play a crucial role in laying the foundation for future large-scale deployment efforts.
“ASEAN’s progress in regional payments connectivity puts us in good stead to realise Nexus’ vision of a global instant payments network,” added Mr. Sopnendu Mohanty.
Next, the head of the Singapore Center, part of the BIS Innovation Center, Mr. Andrew McCormack emphasized that each successful phase of Project Nexus shows the hope that this system can be expanded to more countries around the world .
To achieve this, the BIS and the five ASEAN central banks will establish a global advisory board, with the participation of central banks and payment system operators, to advise on the development of the project outside Southeast Asia. The Bank of Italy and the European Central Bank (ECB) are among the banks invited to join the advisory board.
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