OCBC announced on Tuesday (Mar 26) that it expects to facilitate 250,000 cross-border QR payments this year, four times the number of such transactions in 2023.

The bank said in a statement that it has integrated five cross-border payment platforms into its digital app in the last 12 months.

These include Alipay+, UnionPay International, Thailand’s PromptPay, Malaysia’s DuitNow, and Indonesia’s Quick Response Indonesian Standard.

The integration enables OCBC digital app users with Singapore bank accounts to make seamless QR payments when travelling abroad – the same way they scan and pay with Nets QR back home – without the need to exchange cash or download additional e-wallet apps.

The bank said that its cross-border QR payments service grew significantly in 2023, with the number of such payments on its digital app growing by an average of 65 per cent a month, and the value of these payments, by an average of 80 per cent a month.

“QR code payments have been enjoying a recent boom post-pandemic as they are cheap to set up and are accessible,” the lender pointed out.

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OCBC expects the growth in cross-border QR payments to continue, driven by the rapid proliferation of QR code payments in the Asean region and the anticipated spike in travellers to mainland China, where QR codes are a mainstay in the payment landscape.

The mutual 30-day visa-free arrangement between Singapore and mainland China, which took effect last month, is expected to further increase travel between the two nations.

Sunny Quek, OCBC’s head of global consumer financial services, said: “The evolution of the payment landscape, coupled with travel becoming the new normal again, has given us confidence that we will be able to grow cross-border QR transaction numbers by four times.”

He added that the bank’s partnerships with Alipay+ and UnionPay International have significantly expanded coverage for its customers who travel, especially to mainland China.

Among cross-border QR payments made through the OCBC digital app in 2023, more than half (57 per cent) were made in mainland China, which is OCBC’s top market for this form of payment.

Thailand and Malaysia follow, claiming 20 per cent and 18 per cent of the total number of cross-border QR payments in 2023, respectively.

OCBC said: “In South-east Asia alone, the volume of QR code payments is expected to grow by over 590 per cent in five years, from 13 billion in 2023 to 90 billion in 2028.”