OCBC cross-border QR payments to quadruple in 2024 on China tourist wave

The bank anticipates 250,000 cross-border QR payments this year.

OCBC expects to facilitate 250,000 cross-border QR payments in 2024– quadruple the number of transactions made in 2023.

The OCBC Digital app saw monthly growth averaging 65% up to 80% in 2023, which the bank attributed to it being the first in Singapore bank to offer five cross-border QR payment products in its mobile app. 

Over the past 12 months, the bank has integrated Alipay+, UnionPay International, Thailand’s PromptPay, Malaysia’s DuitNow, and Indonesia’s QR Indonesian Standard in its app. In total, these payment networks cover millions of merchants in more than 40 countries, OCBC said in a press release.

OCBC expects two macroeconomic trends to buoy usage of its cross-border payments app: the “rapid proliferation” of QR code payments in the region, and the anticipated  spike in travellers to Mainland China, where QR codes are supposedly a mainstay in the payment landscape.  

The mutual 30-day visa free arrangement between Singapore and Mainland China that took effect last month is expected to further increase travel to Singapore, OCBC noted.

Overall, QR code payments are expected to grow almost sevenfold or 590% over the next five years, from 13 billion transactions in 2023 to 90 billion payments in 2028.