MAS, ASEAN central banks welcome Brunei and Laos to payment initiative

The initiative utilises QR payments, for faster cross-border transactions.

Brunei Darussalam Central Bank (BDCB) and Bank of the Lao PDR (BOL) have joined the Regional Payment Connectivity Initiative (RPC), which the Monetary Authority of Singapore is part of.

The addition of BDCB brings the RPC group to eight ASEAN central banks, including Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam.

The RPC initiative will promote faster, cheaper, more transparent, and exclusive cross-border payments. It will also provide SMEs access to the international market, easing trade, and facilitating worker remittance transactions through quick response (QR) code-based payment and other fast payment modalities.

“This will serve as a means to facilitate further trade, investments, and economic activities within the region and further foster close collaboration with fellow central banks,” read the joint press release.

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