Direct international payments, de-dollarisation, and new international financial architectures

Direct international payments, de-dollarisation, and new international financial architectures

Jennifer Montoya[1], OBELA[2]

International financial architectures (IFAs) in the East and West are showing a trend towards a decline in the use of the dollar in cross-border transactions and an increase in the digitisation of payment systems, with Asia leading the way. In this context, the Quick Response Indonesian Standard (QRIS) was created in Indonesia in 2019, based on Quick Response codes, or QR codes. It allows transactions using standard QR codes without the need for global networks such as MasterCard and VISA. The system went from being used nationally in Indonesia to unifying the Asian payment system. Countries such as Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines and China adopted the system for bilateral payments in local currency. This article will analyse the impact of the payment system on IFAs. 

QRIS emerged in Indonesia in 2019 and began its expansion in 2022, thanks to the system's flexibility and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Asian countries managed to adapt the platform to their needs, regulations and technology. Subsequently, through bilateral interoperability agreements, they managed to connect. In 2022, the Bank of Thailand implemented Thai QR Payment, a measure adopted by its commercial banks. Malaysia subsequently developed DuitNow QR through its international payment operator. For its part, the Philippines opted for a mixed model, QR Ph, which is compatible with VISA and Mastercard. The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) implemented SGQR, which integrated more than 17 payment schemes into a single platform. Finally, in August 2025, the People's Bank of China (PBOC) announced its incorporation and conducted pilot tests with UnionPay to incorporate the payment system. Each nation's central bank supervises each QR-based system.

Bilateral cross-border payments operate through the interconnection of each national platform, i.e. payment systems operate through standardised International Payment Agreements (IPAs). These serve as a bridge to connect different payment systems, such as Indonesia's QRIS with Malaysia's DuitNow QR. Thus, a tourist from Kuala Lumpur can make purchases in Jakarta using their app, and the conversion will be made automatically from ringgit (MYR) to Indonesian rupiah (IDR), without going through a third currency. According to VISA, by 2025, 93% of consumers in Southeast Asian countries will use digital payment methods, including QR. Singapore leads the way in the use of this system, with 97% of consumers, followed by Malaysia with 96% and Indonesia with 95%. The Philippines is beginning to implement this method, although conventional credit cards still predominate.

In Europe, initiatives have emerged to trade in local currency. In September 2025, the Swiss National Bank (SNB) and the European Central Bank (ECB) announced that they are seeking to connect the Swiss Interbank Clearing System (SIC IP) with the ECB's Target Instant Payment Settlement (TIPS) platform. This project should complete its feasibility phase in 2026, enabling direct cross-border transfers from Swiss francs (CHF) to euros (EUR) in seconds. Meanwhile, the BRICS countries have created a platform called BRICSpay, a QR payment system that connects their members' payment systems in local currency. In October 2025, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Tyabkov highlighted the progress of BRICSpay and stated that they intend to expand the project to all of South America.

The adoption of digital payment systems in local currency in Asia, Europe, and soon in South America indicates a reconfiguration of the two AFIs currently underway. This process began in 2008 after the Lehman Brothers crisis, with local currency trade agreements signed by Brazil and Argentina, which later expanded to MERCOSUR. These initiatives represent a transition from a payment system dominated by the dollar, its instruments and associated networks (VISA, MasterCard and SWIFT) to digitised AFIs in local currency. The result is a decrease in the accumulation of international reserves in dollars and an increase in non-conventional currencies.

According to Eichengreen, there has been a gradual decline in the dollar as a reserve currency since 2000 and an increase in the use of non-conventional currencies, including the Canadian dollar, the Australian dollar and the yuan (see Figures 1 and 2).

In conclusion, AFIs are moving towards digitisation and the use of local currencies in cross-border transactions. On the one hand, Asia and South America are opting for the digitisation of payment systems in local currencies, interconnected and regulated by central banks. Examples include the growing use of QRIS and BRICSPay, as well as the digital interconnection between the European Central Bank's TIPS and the Swiss National Bank's SIC in Europe. Finally, the dollar-based Western FIU uses stablecoins and other dollar-linked coins, issued in an unregulated manner by private agents. All this boils down to a declining demand for the US dollar as an intermediary currency between local and reserve currencies. Although the US currency serves for payments, its instability means it is not considered a safe reserve currency. Direct payments are, in turn, related to the lower transactions cost between currencies without going through a third currency, thanks to new communication technologies. These two factors thus contribute to the reduced demand for the US dollar.

[1] Facultad de Economía, UNAM.

[2] Dr. Oscar Ugarteche, Dr. José Carlos Díaz, Lic. Gabriela Ramírez, Jennifer Montoya, Carlos Madrid, Jesús Córdoba