Five ASEAN countries to establish common standards for non-card instant payments

The accord is part of a 50-year roadmap to develop payments.

The national payment networks of five ASEAN countries have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to establish a common global standards body for non-card instant retail payments, under a 50-year roadmap for payment innovation.

The George Town Accord, named after the city where the MOU was signed, will lay the foundation for “consistent, seamless, and secure technical and operation payment standards” across borders for the 538 million people in the region, according to a press release on 9 October 2025.

Signatories include Malaysia’s PayNet, Singapore’s NETS, Vietnam’s NAPAS, the Philippines’ BancNet, Indonesia’s Artajasa, and Indonesia’s Rintis.

The accord launches the beginning of Next50 Common Standards Project, a roadmap for the next 50 years targeting collective effort for payment innovation.

It aims to link domestic payment networks globally in a way that protects each nation’s payment sovereignty while providing for seamless cross-border cooperation, the press release said.

Next50 will span quick response (QR) payments, account-to-account transfers, e-wallets, and other mobile-based digital payment methods that use near field communication (NFC), biometrics, and agentic artificial intelligence (AI).