I recently had the honor of leading the initiative to build a QRIS Acquirer system for a leading payment service provider in Indonesia. QRIS (Quick Response Code Indonesian Standard) is Indonesia’s national QR payment system, and while I was excited about the opportunity, I had no prior experience in building such a payment system. The responsibility of leading this project delivery posed a significant challenge. This post shares my journey in leading this project and overcoming various technical and non-technical challenges along the way.

Setting the Stage

When I first learned about the project, I was both nervous and thrilled. As someone who extensively relies on QR payments in India for everything from groceries to coffee, I realized how crucial it was to build a seamless payment system for Indonesia. However, my initial excitement was met with the reality that I didn’t have much experience in developing a payment system integration at the scale that would be required for QRIS.

I began by immersing myself in the systems that enable the payment journey. I discovered that there are two main entities involved: the issuer, responsible for the customer-facing side of the transaction, and the acquirer, which processes the payment behind the scenes. These two entities are connected by a switcher, a regulatory body that routes transactions between the issuer and acquirer.

The sheer variety of transaction types—credit requests, refunds, inquiries, status checks—added to the complexity. The switcher plays a critical role in regulating these transactions, making it essential to fully understand its operations.

Tackling the Challenges

Challenge 1: Time Constraints and Licensing Pressure

One of the major challenges I faced was time pressure. Our team had strict deadlines not only for product development but also to obtain the necessary licensing for launching the system. The timeline was tight, and we had to be strategic in prioritizing the key components needed for regulatory approval. To address this, I focused on identifying the absolute essentials for the licensing process, broke down the work into manageable tasks, and ensured that we met the required milestones on time.

Challenge 2: Navigating Standards and Conformance

Building a QR payment system meant adhering to Indonesian regulatory standards. I spent hours poring over ASPI (Indonesian Payment System Association) standards to understand the complexities behind QR codes—how they’re generated, what data they contain, and how transactions are processed. This allowed me to demystify the QR code generation process for the team, and I presented a detailed breakdown to make it easier for everyone to follow and even illustrated through a presentation.

Once the QR code generation process was clear, we moved on to the integration with the switcher system. The documentation for the switcher was extensive, and each transaction had specific parameters that needed to be followed. By guiding the team through these requirements, we were able to streamline the implementation and ensure that all requests were compliant with the switcher’s conformance standards.

Challenge 3: Stakeholder Gaps and Team Productivity

Another challenge was the limited knowledge of the acquirer system among client stakeholders. I took it upon myself to research and fill those gaps, and then relay that information to the team. In addition, a few team members lacked prior experience in payment systems, which initially slowed progress. To overcome this, I held a series of knowledge-sharing sessions to bring everyone up to speed. This approach drastically reduced the time it took to get the team aligned and improved our overall efficiency.

Key Takeaways and Reflections

Building the QRIS Acquirer system for a fintech company has been a rich learning journey, offering valuable insights into Indonesia’s payment landscape and the key technical elements required for a robust payment solution. This project underscored the importance of adaptable architectures, the role of compliance with ASPI standards, and the value of non-technical skills, such as collaboration and strategic alignment, for navigating an evolving business environment. I hope these insights prove valuable to others tackling similar challenges.

In my next blog, I’ll dive into the technical intricacies of ASPI standards and explore the mechanics behind QR code generation and processing, sharing a closer look at what goes on behind the scenes in a QRIS payment system.

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