Bank Indonesia has said WeChat and Alipay -- two payment instruments from China -- do not have a formal agreement with local banks and therefore cannot operate legally in the country.
BI Deputy Governor Sugeng said three banks were in the process of completing documents to cooperate with the foreign e-wallets -- private lenders Bank Central Asia (BCA) and CIMB Niaga as well as state-owned lender Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI).
He added that BCA and BRI’s documents have not yet been submitted to the central bank. “Meanwhile, CIMB Niaga has completed its document and it has been submitted to BI,” said Sugeng in Jakarta on Thursday as quoted by kotan.co.id.
It was previously reported that BCA and BRI were cooperating with Alipay, which is affiliated to Alibaba Holdings, while CIMB Niaga would cooperate with WeChat, which is owned by Tencent Holdings.
Meanwhile, state-owned lender Bank Negara Indonesia (BNI), which initially planned to cooperate with the two payment instruments, has delayed its plans. BNI president director Achmad Baiquni said on Tuesday the bank would wait on plans by the three state-lenders to establish a financial technology firm.
Sugeng said after the documents have been submitted to BI by the local banks to seek cooperation with foreign payment platforms, the central bank would check the operational system to see whether it would be safe for local consumers to carry out transactions.
He stressed that if the foreign e-wallets operated in the country without collaborating with local banks they would violate BI regulations. “We will be monitoring and supervising the process,” Sugeng added.
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