The Central Bank of Timor-Leste (BCTL) and Bank Indonesia (BI) signed a Memorandum of Understanding in Jakarta on September 25th, 2026, to strengthen cooperation on payment systems and digital financial innovation, and to lay the groundwork for developing payment connectivity between Timor-Leste and Indonesia.
The Governors of BCTL, Hélder Lopes, and Bank Indonesia, Destry Damayanti, signed the agreement within the framework of the Indonesia Digital Economy and Finance Festival and the Indonesia Fintech Summit and Expo 2026 (FEKDI x IFSE 2026), held in Jakarta from September 24th to 26th.
The Memorandum establishes a framework for cooperation in the areas of payment and settlement systems and digital financial innovation, including information sharing and the strengthening of institutional relations between the two central banks.
One of the agreement’s main objectives is to develop connectivity between Timor-Leste’s and Indonesia’s payment systems, including assessing a potential link to QRIS Cross-Border, Indonesia’s system for cross-border payments via QR codes.
Future interoperability is expected to enable users in both countries to make payments via their respective digital applications and compatible QR code systems, facilitating transactions related to trade, tourism, and mobility between Timor-Leste and Indonesia.
The agreement with Bank Indonesia continues the modernisation and regional integration of Timor-Leste’s payment system. On September 12th, BCTL officially launched the Timor Unique QR (TUQR), the national QR code standard for digital payments, designed to ensure interoperability across banks, financial institutions, fintech companies, and digital wallets.
TUQR is supported by Ti-Fast, BCTL’s instant payment system, and serves as the national foundation for future links with payment systems in other countries.
Also on September 12th, BCTL and the National Bank of Cambodia signed a Memorandum of Understanding in Dili focused on digital payments and cross-border connectivity. On that occasion, the Governor of BCTL announced that a similar agreement with Indonesia was planned for the same month.
These initiatives are part of Timor-Leste’s regional financial integration process. In July this year, Governor Hélder Lopes met at ASEAN headquarters in Jakarta with the organisation’s Secretary-General, Kao Kim Hourn, to discuss, among other matters, regional financial integration, payment system connectivity, and financial inclusion.
QRIS Cross-Border already enables the Indonesian payment system to connect with systems in several partner countries. Indonesia’s experience allows users to make payments abroad using their domestic applications and enables visitors from partner countries to use their respective payment systems at participating merchants in Indonesia.
Implementing connectivity between Timor-Leste and Indonesia will now depend on developing the technical, regulatory, and operational mechanisms required for interoperability of their payment systems.