BI assures digital money will not replace cash

Jakarta (ANTARA) - Bank Indonesia (BI) Deputy Governor Ricky Perdana Gozali has assured that digital money will not replace cash, with the two complementing each other as legal tender.

“Digital and cash, the rupiah in its physical form or in economic terms, do not replace each other; they are not substitutes but complements,” Ricky said at a press conference following the BI Board of Governors Meeting in Jakarta on Wednesday.

According to him, digitalisation and the use of physical rupiah will continue to be developed simultaneously to provide the public with choices when conducting transactions.

Ricky added that the use of physical rupiah or cash continues to grow, although its growth tends to slow amid the massive digitalisation of transactions. On the other hand, digital transactions are also growing significantly in line with the increasing use of digital payment instruments by the public.

“Therefore, of course, how do we continue to provide understanding about this money, the rupiah, to all members of the public so that they can ultimately support the development of digitalisation,” he said.

To improve public understanding of the rupiah amid digitalisation, BI continues to run the ‘Cinta, Bangga, Paham Rupiah’ (Love, Pride, Understand Rupiah) campaign.

“With Bangga Rupiah, we know that the rupiah is a symbol of sovereignty, legal tender, and a unifying force for the nation. Meanwhile, for Paham Rupiah, we convey that spending wisely, using the rupiah wisely, understanding transactions, and saving,” he said.

Bank Indonesia recorded digital transaction volume at 5.50 billion transactions, growing 28.69 percent year-on-year (yoy) in July 2026.

In detail, transaction volume through the internet and mobile applications grew 9.39 percent (yoy) and 24.25 percent (yoy) respectively.

Quick Response Code Indonesian Standard (QRIS) transactions continued to grow strongly, reaching 82.42 percent (yoy), supported by an increase in the number of users and merchants.

In terms of infrastructure, retail transaction volume through BI-FAST reached 546 million transactions, growing 31.62 percent (yoy) with a transaction value of Rp1,355 trillion.

Meanwhile, large-value transaction volume through BI-RTGS was recorded at 0.99 million transactions, growing 3.12 percent (yoy), with BI-RTGS nominal transactions growing 1.54 percent (yoy) to reach Rp20,097 trillion.

As for rupiah currency management, currency in circulation grew 15.10 percent (yoy) to Rp1,314 trillion.