QRIS Enters a New Policy Phase: What the 0% MDR Expansion Means for Indonesia’s Low-Value Digital Payments
A pre-implementation evidence baseline on QRIS transaction economics ahead of the 0% MDR expansion taking effect on 1 October 2026.
Executive Summary
Indonesia’s QRIS ecosystem is moving into a new phase. The previous phase was primarily about expanding adoption: more users, more merchants, and rapidly increasing transaction volumes. The next phase is increasingly about the economics of using that infrastructure.
Bank Indonesia has announced an expansion of the 0% Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) for QRIS, effective 1 October 2026. The existing 0% MDR for micro enterprises remains in place for transactions up to Rp500,000. The new policy expands the 0% rate to small, medium, and large merchants for transactions up to Rp100,000, replacing the previous 0.7% MDR for those transactions.
Based on these aggregate figures, the implied average transaction value during the first half of 2026 was approximately Rp89,243 per transaction.
This average should not be interpreted as the share of transactions eligible for the new MDR policy. Transaction values are distributed unevenly, and micro merchants already operate under a different MDR structure. However, it provides an important research signal: low-value payments are economically significant enough to warrant closer monitoring within the QRIS ecosystem.
The policy therefore represents more than a pricing adjustment. It marks a shift in Indonesia’s digital payment development from:
Access → Adoption → Scale → Utilization → Transaction Economics
The next research question is no longer only whether merchants accept QRIS. It is whether increasingly efficient payment economics can strengthen utilization, merchant acceptance, consumer convenience, and ultimately the economic value created by Indonesia’s digital payment infrastructure.
Ringkasan Eksekutif
Ekosistem QRIS Indonesia memasuki fase baru. Tahap sebelumnya terutama ditandai oleh perluasan adopsi: jumlah pengguna bertambah, merchant semakin banyak, dan volume transaksi meningkat sangat cepat. Tahap berikutnya mulai menyentuh ekonomi penggunaan infrastruktur tersebut.
Bank Indonesia mengumumkan perluasan kebijakan Merchant Discount Rate atau MDR QRIS 0% yang berlaku efektif pada 1 Oktober 2026. Kebijakan MDR 0% untuk Usaha Mikro tetap berlaku bagi transaksi sampai dengan Rp500.000. Perubahan baru memperluas MDR 0% kepada merchant kategori usaha kecil, menengah, dan besar untuk transaksi sampai dengan Rp100.000, dibandingkan tarif sebelumnya sebesar 0,7%.
Perubahan ini terjadi ketika QRIS telah memiliki skala nasional. Hingga Juni 2026, QRIS telah mencapai 65,77 juta pengguna dan 44,86 juta merchant. Sebanyak 96,68% merchant merupakan UMKM. Pada Semester I 2026, QRIS mencatat 12,55 miliar transaksi dengan nilai Rp1,12 kuadriliun.
Secara agregat, angka tersebut menghasilkan nilai rata-rata sekitar Rp89 ribu per transaksi. Angka rata-rata tersebut tidak dapat digunakan untuk menentukan berapa banyak transaksi yang akan memperoleh MDR 0%, karena distribusi nominal transaksi tidak tersedia dalam evidence yang digunakan dalam artikel ini. Namun, angka tersebut memberikan sinyal bahwa transaksi bernilai relatif kecil merupakan bagian penting yang perlu diamati dalam perkembangan ekonomi QRIS.
1. From Scale to Transaction Economics
The previous ArrezaMP Research Update, “QRIS at Scale: Indonesia’s Digital Payment Transformation Enters a New Phase,” documented the rapid expansion of QRIS across Indonesia. That evidence established an important baseline: QRIS is no longer an emerging payment experiment. It has become part of Indonesia’s national digital payment infrastructure.
Bank Indonesia reported that by June 2026 QRIS had reached 65.77 million users and 44.86 million merchants. During January–June 2026 alone, 6.23 million new users were added.
Once infrastructure reaches this scale, however, adoption becomes only one part of the research question. The next questions become:
- How frequently is the infrastructure used?
- What kinds of transactions are taking place?
- What does each transaction cost?
- How do those costs affect merchants?
- Does lower transaction friction increase utilization?
- Can payment infrastructure create measurable economic value beyond convenience?
This Research Update therefore moves the R2 monitor from scale observation toward payment economics.
2. The Policy Change
Bank Indonesia announced the expansion of the QRIS 0% MDR policy on 17 August 2026. The policy is scheduled to become effective on 1 October 2026.
Existing MDR Structure
| Merchant Category | Transaction Value | MDR Before the New Expansion |
|---|---|---|
| Micro Enterprise (UMI) | ≤ Rp500,000 | 0% |
| Micro Enterprise (UMI) | > Rp500,000 | 0.3% |
| Small (UKE), Medium (UME), Large (UBE) | Regular transactions | 0.7% |
From 1 October 2026
Bank Indonesia will maintain the existing 0% treatment for micro merchants while extending zero MDR to small, medium and large merchants for transactions up to Rp100,000. Those transactions were previously subject to a 0.7% MDR.
3. Why Rp100,000 Matters
During the first half of 2026, QRIS recorded 12.55 billion transactions with a transaction value of Rp1.12 quadrillion.
Using those aggregate figures:
The calculated average is below the new Rp100,000 MDR threshold. This is noteworthy, but it must be interpreted carefully.
An average does not reveal the distribution of transactions. It does not tell us:
- how many transactions are below Rp100,000;
- how many occur at micro merchants;
- how transaction values differ by merchant category; or
- what proportion of total transaction value will actually receive the new 0% treatment.
The Rp89,243 figure is a research signal, not evidence that most QRIS transactions will become MDR-free under the new policy.
Nevertheless, the relationship between the aggregate average ticket and the Rp100,000 threshold makes transaction-value distribution an important area for future monitoring.
4. What Does a 0.7% MDR Mean at Small Transaction Values?
| QRIS Transaction | 0.7% MDR | MDR Under New Policy if Eligible |
|---|---|---|
| Rp25,000 | Rp175 | Rp0 |
| Rp50,000 | Rp350 | Rp0 |
| Rp100,000 | Rp700 | Rp0 |
Individually, these amounts appear small. But merchant economics operate through repetition. A merchant processing hundreds or thousands of low-value transactions can experience transaction costs cumulatively.
This is particularly relevant for businesses characterized by frequent purchases, relatively low ticket values, high transaction volumes, and narrow operating margins.
The policy therefore changes the marginal cost of accepting eligible low-value QRIS payments for affected merchant categories. It does not eliminate every cost within the payment ecosystem, and it should not automatically be interpreted as a direct increase in merchant profit. But it reduces one identifiable merchant-side cost component for eligible transactions.
5. MDR Is a Merchant-Side Cost
An important distinction in evaluating the policy is who bears MDR. Bank Indonesia explains that QRIS MDR is a payment service fee borne by the merchant and should not be passed on to consumers.
Therefore, the direct first-order effect of the October policy is on merchant payment acceptance economics, rather than a direct consumer discount.
Lower eligible transaction cost → lower merchant acceptance friction → potentially stronger QRIS utilization → broader digital transaction activity
The word potentially is important. Policy intention and actual economic outcomes are not the same thing. Whether lower MDR produces measurable changes in merchant behavior will require post-implementation evidence.
6. QRIS Has Already Reached a Large Merchant Base
By June 2026, QRIS served 44.86 million merchants, with 96.68% classified as MSMEs. This demonstrates broad penetration across Indonesia’s business landscape.
However, the very large MSME share should not lead to the conclusion that the new October policy mainly affects micro merchants. The existing MDR regime already provides a 0% rate for micro-enterprise transactions up to Rp500,000.
The incremental policy change is particularly relevant to other regular merchant categories because transactions up to Rp100,000 shift from 0.7% to 0%.
The next-stage research question is therefore no longer only:
How many MSMEs use QRIS?
It is also:
How does QRIS pricing influence transactions across different types and sizes of merchants?
7. Strong Transaction Growth Continues
The pricing policy arrives during a period of continued strong QRIS growth.
Bank Indonesia reported that in July 2026, total digital payment volume reached 5.50 billion transactions, growing 28.69% year-on-year. QRIS transaction volume itself grew 82.42% year-on-year, supported by increasing numbers of users and merchants.
The combination of a large user base, a large merchant base, high transaction growth, and lower costs for eligible low-value transactions creates a materially different research environment from the earlier QRIS adoption phase.
8. The Digital Payment Development Ladder
Stage 1 — Infrastructure
Create interoperable digital payment infrastructure.
Stage 2 — Acceptance
Expand merchant availability.
Stage 3 — Adoption
Increase consumer and merchant participation.
Stage 4 — Scale
Reach tens of millions of users and merchants and billions of transactions.
Stage 5 — Utilization
Increase transaction frequency and embed digital payments in everyday economic activity.
Stage 6 — Economic Efficiency
Reduce friction and improve the economics of using digital payment infrastructure.
Indonesia’s QRIS development appears increasingly positioned between Stage 5 and Stage 6.
This does not mean earlier challenges have disappeared. Coverage, reliability, fraud prevention, consumer protection, digital literacy, connectivity, business capability, and access to financial services remain important. But the research question has evolved: the system is now large enough that efficiency improvements can potentially operate at substantial scale.
9. Potential Merchant Implications
9.1 Lower Cost for Eligible Low-Value Transactions
The most immediate effect is straightforward: eligible transactions at small, medium, and large merchants move from a 0.7% MDR to 0%.
9.2 Reduced Friction Around Small QRIS Payments
Low-value transactions are common in many everyday commercial environments. Reducing the merchant-side cost could make digital payment acceptance economically easier for such transactions. Whether this results in higher utilization must be measured after implementation.
9.3 Deeper Integration with Business Operations
As adoption and utilization increase, digital payments can become more deeply integrated with accounting, sales records, inventory systems, customer analytics, financing, and other business processes. This is where QRIS development intersects with broader business digitalization.
10. Potential Consumer Implications
Consumers do not directly receive the MDR reduction because MDR is a merchant-side fee. Nevertheless, consumers may experience indirect benefits if the policy results in wider acceptance, fewer merchant objections to small QRIS transactions, improved payment convenience, or more consistent digital payment availability.
These remain hypotheses rather than confirmed outcomes. Post-implementation evidence will be required before making stronger conclusions.
11. Implications for Indonesia’s Digital Economy
11.1 Digital Infrastructure Is Moving Beyond Adoption Metrics
User count and merchant count remain important, but mature digital infrastructure should increasingly be assessed through utilization, reliability, transaction economics, interoperability, productivity impact, and value creation.
11.2 Small Transactions Matter at Scale
A transaction worth tens of thousands of rupiah may appear economically insignificant in isolation. Billions of such transactions are not. Digital infrastructure can create national economic significance through enormous volumes of individually small interactions.
11.3 Payment Policy Becomes Business Policy
Payment costs affect how businesses receive money. At sufficient scale, changes in payment economics can influence merchant behavior, operating efficiency, transaction preferences, digital adoption, and potentially business formalization.
11.4 Industry Sustainability Still Matters
A 0% MDR does not mean payment processing has zero economic cost. Payment infrastructure still requires technology, networks, fraud prevention, settlement systems, cybersecurity, operational resilience, compliance, and service providers.
Bank Indonesia has framed the policy around balancing benefits for society and merchants with opportunities for payment service providers and the sustainability of the payment industry. That balance should remain part of future research.
12. What This Update Does Not Yet Prove
Responsible interpretation requires distinguishing evidence from assumptions.
The current evidence does not yet demonstrate that the MDR expansion will:
- increase merchant profits;
- reduce consumer prices;
- significantly increase QRIS transaction volume;
- improve merchant productivity;
- produce stronger financial inclusion outcomes; or
- materially change consumer behavior.
13. Research Baseline for Future Monitoring
Policy Baseline
| Indicator | Baseline |
|---|---|
| Effective date | 1 October 2026 |
| Micro merchants (UMI) | 0% MDR remains for transactions ≤ Rp500,000 |
| Small, medium, large merchants | 0% MDR for transactions ≤ Rp100,000, replacing the prior 0.7% rate for those transactions |
Ecosystem Baseline — June 2026
| Indicator | Baseline |
|---|---|
| QRIS users | 65.77 million |
| New users, January–June 2026 | 6.23 million |
| QRIS merchants | 44.86 million |
| MSME share of merchants | 96.68% |
| H1 2026 transaction volume | 12.55 billion |
| H1 2026 transaction value | Rp1.12 quadrillion |
| Nominal value growth | 93.92% YoY |
| Implied aggregate average ticket* | ≈ Rp89,243 |
*ArrezaMP Research calculation from Bank Indonesia’s aggregate H1 transaction value and transaction volume. This is not a transaction-distribution statistic.
Latest Growth Signal
| Indicator | Latest Evidence Used |
|---|---|
| July 2026 total digital payment volume | 5.50 billion transactions; +28.69% YoY |
| July 2026 QRIS transaction volume growth | +82.42% YoY |
14. Questions for the Next Research Update
- Transaction behavior: Does QRIS transaction volume change materially after implementation?
- Merchant behavior: Does lower MDR encourage stronger acceptance of small-value transactions?
- Merchant mix: Do transaction patterns differ among micro, small, medium, and large merchants?
- Transaction-value distribution: What proportion of QRIS transactions actually falls below Rp100,000?
- Business impact: Can lower payment costs be associated with measurable business-efficiency improvements?
- Industry sustainability: How does the ecosystem balance merchant cost reduction with the cost of secure and reliable payment infrastructure?
These questions should not be answered through speculation. They should be revisited when new primary evidence becomes available.
15. Research Finding
The most important finding in this Research Update is not simply that QRIS MDR is being reduced.
The deeper signal is that Indonesia’s QRIS policy is evolving because the infrastructure itself has evolved.
When QRIS was still developing, the central challenge was adoption. With more than 65 million users, almost 45 million merchants, and billions of transactions, the research challenge increasingly becomes understanding how infrastructure scale translates into economic efficiency.
Build the infrastructure → Expand acceptance → Reach national scale → Reduce transaction friction → Observe economic impact
The first four stages now have substantial supporting evidence. The final stage — measurable economic impact — remains an open research question.
Research Assessment
This publication qualifies as an ArrezaMP Research Update because it contains primary-source policy evidence, primary-source quantitative evidence, a material change to Indonesia’s payment-system economics, national-scale relevance, continuity with an existing R2 research baseline, and clearly defined questions for post-implementation monitoring.
| Classification | Material Evidence Update |
|---|---|
| Research Position | Pre-Implementation Policy Baseline |
| Evidence Confidence | High for stated policy and reported statistics; impact outcomes remain unverified |
Sources & Evidence
Related Research
Indonesian Summary
QRIS Memasuki Fase Kebijakan Baru: Dari Skala Menuju Efisiensi Transaksi
QRIS telah berkembang dari instrumen pembayaran digital menjadi bagian penting dari infrastruktur ekonomi digital Indonesia. Setelah mencapai 65,77 juta pengguna, 44,86 juta merchant, dan 12,55 miliar transaksi pada Semester I 2026, perhatian riset tidak lagi cukup diarahkan pada jumlah pengguna dan merchant.
Pertanyaan berikutnya adalah bagaimana infrastruktur tersebut digunakan dan seberapa efisien biaya transaksinya.
Mulai 1 Oktober 2026, Bank Indonesia akan memperluas MDR QRIS 0% kepada merchant usaha kecil, menengah, dan besar untuk transaksi sampai dengan Rp100.000. Sebelumnya, kategori merchant tersebut dikenakan MDR 0,7% untuk transaksi reguler. Sementara itu, kebijakan 0% bagi usaha mikro untuk transaksi sampai Rp500.000 tetap dilanjutkan.
Dengan menggunakan angka agregat Semester I 2026, rata-rata nilai transaksi QRIS secara sederhana berada di kisaran Rp89.243. Angka tersebut tidak membuktikan berapa persentase transaksi yang akan memperoleh MDR 0%, tetapi menunjukkan bahwa ekonomi transaksi bernilai kecil layak menjadi objek penelitian berikutnya.
Perubahan kebijakan MDR ini menjadi tanda bahwa perkembangan QRIS mulai bergerak dari:
adoption → scale → utilization → efficiency
Namun dampak sebenarnya belum dapat disimpulkan. Pada tanggal publikasi artikel ini, 8 September 2026, kebijakan tersebut belum berlaku. Karena itu, artikel ini menjadi baseline sebelum implementasi yang nantinya dapat dibandingkan dengan evidence transaksi dan merchant setelah 1 Oktober 2026.
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