Asean expands regional payment connectivity

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has onboarded Brunei Darussalam Central Bank (BDCB) and Bank of the Lao PDR (BOL) in ramping up cross-border payments in the region, bringing the number of total central banks participating in the regional payment connectivity initiative to eight.

- KEISHA TA-ASAN

The BDCB joined the regional payment connectivity initiative (RPC) on Feb. 29,

while the BOL officially joined during the 11th ASEAN Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors' Meeting in Lao PDR on April 3.

The signing of the supplemental pages of the memorandum of understanding (MOU) on cooperation in RPC was done after the two central banks previously expressed their interest in joining the initiative.

The RPC was spearheaded by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), Bank Indonesia, Bank Negara Malaysia, the Monetary Authority of Singapore and Bank of Thailand in late 2022. They were later joined by the State Bank of Vietnam in August 2023.

"The RPC initiative is expected to be extended to other ASEAN countries and beyond," the central banks said in a joint statement released on Wednesday evening.