ACI Worldwide, the payments system company, and GlobalData, the data and analytics firm have worked together on a new report revealing which real-time payments markets across the world are the most successful.

In its fifth iteration, the 2024 Prime Time for Real-Time report takes a different approach from its predecessors. Previous reports by ACI Worldwide and GlobalData have looked at economic benefits and consumer uptake of real-time payments. However, this one delves into the driving factors and use cases that have allowed certain regions and countries to develop a thriving real-time payment ecosystem.

The report is aptly timed as global real-time payments growth has reached sustainable levels with 266.2 billion real-time payments transactions recorded in 2023. This was a year-over-year (YoY) growth of 42.2 per cent. Explaining the reasons behind this growth, the report explores how newer market entrants are catching up in the space.

It also identifies how lawmakers and central banks are pushing for adoption, determined to reap the economic benefits of real-time payments and drive financial inclusion for their citizens.

Looking to the future, ACI Worldwide and GlobalData find that Globally, 575.1 billion real-time transactions are forecast by 2028. This represents a 2023-2028 compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 16.7 per cent. By 2028, real-time payments are expected to account for 27.1 per cent of all electronic payments globally.

India, Brazil, Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Netherlands are the primary countries analysed in the report.

“Real-time payments—and especially cross-border payments—are the future. They remove payments friction, provide greater liquidity in the financial system, and ultimately drive economic growth and financial inclusion,” said Debbie Guerra, chief product officer, ACI Worldwide.

“Banks should consider whether they are truly maximising the real-time rails in their market, and whether limiting their commitment to the minimum also means limiting their potential share of the future of payments.”

Regional differences

India continues to dominate the global real-time payments market. In 2023, there were 129.3 billion transactions – more than the rest of the world’s top 10 real-time payments markets combined. Of all electronic payments made in India, 84 per cent are now real-time.

Meanwhile, in Brazil, 37.4 billion real-time payments transactions took place in 2023. This was YoY growth of 77.9 per cent. The country is responsible for 75 per cent of all transactions in Latin America (LatAm), establishing itself as the undisputed real-time payments leader.

Nonetheless, other Latin American countries are pushing ahead with real-time payments modernisation initiatives. Peru and Colombia are predicted to have the highest 2023-2028 CAGRs in the region. Respectively they are estimated to have growth rates of 51.2 per cent and 42.6 per cent as look to emulate Brazil’s success.

Nigeria is the undisputed real-time payments leader in Africa, another major growth market. The country recorded 7.9 billion transactions in 2023; real-time payments had an impressive 82.1 per cent share of all electronic payments in 2023.

“This year’s report highlights the key success factors that have allowed some countries to forge ahead with real-time payments modernisation and reap enormous benefits for consumers and businesses,” said Craig Ramsey, global head of real-time payments, ACI Worldwide.

He continued: “Modern real-time payments require collaboration. They encourage a new generation of market entrants for banks to either compete or cooperate with – often both. The world’s most successful real-time payments schemes, notably those in India and Brazil, also feature use cases that have proved popular beyond imagination.”

The bigger picture

While certain countries are leading the way in the real-time payments market, regionally, Asia Pacific (APAC) is the largest ecosystem. It had 185.8 billion transactions in 2023, representing 24.0 per cent of all electronic payments in the region. With four of the top five real-time payments markets by volume, the APAC region is projected to see over 351.5 billion real-time transactions by 2028. This is a 2023-2028 CAGR of 13.6 per cent.

The Middle East is the fastest-growing real-time payments market globally. Oman, Kuwait and Qatar all launched schemes in 2023. Consequently, they joined more established regional players like Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and UAE. The 2023-2028 CAGR for the region is 28.8 per cent – transactions are expected to rise from 855 million to 3.0 billion by 2028.

The European Union (EU) Instant Payments Regulation, passed in February 2024, is expected to drive instant payments volume across the Single Euro Payments Area. This also includes the 27 EU member states. By 2028, instant payments are forecast to account for 13 per cent of all electronic payments in Europe, up fro eight per cent in 2023.

North America is a major growth market to watch—primarily due to the launch of the FedNow service in the US in 2023—with a projected 2023-2028 CAGR of 27.1 per cent.

Market deep-dives: Lessons from the most successful real-time payments markets

The power of collaboration

Whether by government mandate or industry consensus, real-time payments systems thrive through active collaboration. Financial institutions, payment service providers, central banks and government institutions, merchants and third-party stakeholders must work together to build and operate successful real-time payments ecosystems.

Open and inclusive payments ecosystems

The most successful real-time payments markets are fostering fintech-rich environments. The research shows that fintechs and smaller banks play an increasingly significant role in the real-time payment ecosystems of the world’s leading markets. Therefore, larger banks will need to reevaluate strategies and forge new partnerships with fintechs to remain competitive.

Strong incentives for merchants

Merchant adoption and uptake are crucial for real-time payments growth. The Indian government, for example, removed merchant discount rates and issued all merchants with QR codes for UPI acceptance. Consequently, this actively incentivised merchants of all sizes to accept UPI payments.

Constant flow of new, user-friendly use cases

Real-time payments thrive in countries where innovative use cases have found mass adoption by consumers or businesses. Whether utility or tax bills, transport tickets or road tolls, subscription payments, or the weekly grocery shop, consumers in the most successful markets are now paying in real-time.

Cross-border real-time payments links are the next big frontier

Efforts to extend real-time to cross-border payments are finally paying off, and Asian countries are leading the way. Payments using India’s popular UPI scheme can now be made in Malaysia, Indonesia, UAE and France, and users of Malaysia’s DuitNow can now make QR code real-time payments from Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand and China.

Real-time payments fraud

Generative AI is changing the nature and scale of fraud attacks, but the industry is rising to the challenge. Consumer rights initiatives, education programs and government interventions—combined with new AI-based anti-fraud technology and methods—are starting to make an impact.

Marking the one-year anniversary of its Singapore office, Trulioo, the identity platform for person and business verification, has revealed that it achieved a 90 per cent business verification rate across the APAC region, including in markets with minimal data availability and multiple languages.

Trulioo explained that its commitment to Asia-Pacific (APAC) has proved vital for payments providers, online marketplaces and financial services companies expanding into Europe and North America, as well as for organisations venturing into the region.

Trulioo highlighted how its 24/7 implementation support helps APAC-based brands expand into new markets, meet complex regulatory requirements and quickly onboard customers and merchants.

It revealed that it has supported one e-commerce platform to quickly verify brands in China and the US, saving more than a week of manual processing time onboarding each business. Meanwhile, a global remittance provider has expanded into 30 markets, including Bangladesh, China, the US, India, Indonesia and the Philippines, with Trulioo support. Its largest market is China, where Trulioo delivers an average match rate of 92 per cent for the provider’s target demographic.

Ivan Yang, APAC operations director at Trulioo heads the Singapore office and has seen the firm’s global footprint expand under his guidance. He has helped develop strategic alliances with over 400 partners across 50 countries.

“Our customers rely on cutting-edge, customised capabilities to meet their full range of verification needs, no matter the region or business type,” he explained. “Our 24/7 implementation support has been instrumental in helping our customers expand and meet regional compliance mandates. The APAC market is dynamic, and we’re proud to be there around the clock with verification guidance that drives measurable growth.”

Propelling Trulioo growth across APAC

Trulioo also helps APAC organisations navigate complex regulatory obligations while doing business overseas, particularly in markets such as Europe and North America. That support includes automating manual Know Your Business processes, such as mapping cross-border links among businesses and owners.

Steve Munford, CEO of Trulioo, discussed the identity platform’s effort in the region: “APAC is pivotal to Trulioo, and Ivan has been a force in driving unprecedented growth throughout the region. In one year, he has assembled an exceptionally dedicated team adept at providing unparalleled support to customers while driving innovation and propelling our growth throughout the region.”

Trulioo also offered further examples of how it has supported businesses in the past year:

• A global e-commerce brand working with Trulioo has identified and verified over one million Chinese businesses and their owners.
• A payment processor in APAC that onboarded sole proprietorships at scale partnered with Trulioo and has now expanded that verification to Japan, Canada, Australia and the UK.

In late December 2023, STICPAY, the global e-wallet service provider and payment gateway introduced new local payment methods for money-in across various countries. Expanding its digital footprint in the payments space, specifically in the Asia region, STICPAY has announced various new partnerships with local payments providers.

Previously, STICPAY had enhanced the user payment experience in Australia, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, Colombia, India, Malaysia and China with its local payment methods. With the newly announced partnerships, STICPAY is making its payments offering more accessible, integrated and cost-effective

Across China, India, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia, STICPAY has integrated a wide range of both traditional and challenger local payment methods. These include:

• Alipay and Wechatpay (China and Hong Kong)
• GCash (Philippines)
• PayNow (Singapore)
• QRIS (Indonesia)
• MonoPay (Vietnam)
• PromptPay (Thailand)
• UPI (India)
• TNG Wallet (Malaysia)

Bank transfer and mobile payment, plus many others are also being enabled by the new partnership.

The move by STICPAY means that a broader segment of the Asian population can now benefit from e-wallet services. The integrations also mean that local users in Asia – both individuals and businesses – can use tailored, local payment options that are familiar and convenient to them. This in turn enables them to manage their finances, pay bills and undertake everyday transactions more easily.

The partnerships will also make transitions far more cost-effective. Local payments considerably reduce or eliminate transaction fees compared to international transactions.

APAC and beyond

In addition to the Asian partnerships, STICPAY has also launched new partnerships with local payment providers in Australia (PayID) and Colombia (Nequi) as it looks to expand its partnerships with local payment providers around the world.

According to research from Juniper, more than 60 per cent of the world’s population will use digital wallets by 2026, with emerging markets driving much of this uptake. Indonesia, for example, is forecast to have 202 million mobile wallet users by 2025, with digital wallets helping boost growth in emerging market economics where banking infrastructure is often outdated, inaccessible and poorly distributed.

Sean Park, STICPAY CEO, said: “STICPAY’s introduction of new local payment methods marks a significant stride towards creating a global financial ecosystem that understands and respects users’ unique needs in various countries. By prioritizing convenience, trust, and cost-effectiveness, STICPAY is not just offering a service; it’s fostering a financial experience tailored to the diverse preferences of its users.

“As we move forward, this innovative approach solidifies STICPAY’s commitment to being a leader in the digital finance realm, shaping the future of finance one region at a time.”

Finastra, the UK headquartered retail banking solutions provider, has established its footprint in the APAC region as it announced two new partnerships in February.

Regtech UNITAS, based in South Korea, and SYSTEX, the IT services provider, based in Taiwan, are the latest firms in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region to partner with Finastra to capitalise on the retail banking solutions provider’s treasury solution, Kondor.

Digital transformation in South Korea

Finastra Kondor enables financial institutions to trade high volumes of treasury while offering the flexibility to support more complex derivatives, options, and structured trades. The solution can be easily integrated with existing systems and applications, enabling simplification, lowering costs and creating a single source of truth – all while ensuring that the organization remains compliant.

Capitalising on the Kondor tech, UNITAS will combine its local expertise with Finastra’s offering to enable more banks in the country to digitally transform and grow their business.

“After many years helping banks in South Korea to digitally transform their treasury operations, we are excited to combine our experience with UNITAS – a leading name in South Korea’s financial risk and compliance market,” said Richard Zhu, managing director, treasury and capital markets, APAC, Finastra. “With its experience and reach in the market, working alongside UNITAS will enable us to bring an even more comprehensive offering to Korean financial institutions and help grow their businesses.”

“With our common client profile, this partnership presents clear synergies and enables us to offer Finastra’s best-of-breed trading system to our existing and new clients, as well as opening up a new revenue stream,” said Dooho Lee, director, UNITAS. “We look forward to working with Finastra to help more banks transform their treasury operations.”

Comprehensive treasury solutions for Taiwan banks

In Taiwan, SYSTEX will resell Finastra’s Kondor and Risk solutions, creating an offering that combines Finastra’s trading system with SYSTEX’s local expertise and broad technology services capabilities. The partnership will enable more banks in Taiwan to digitally transform and grow their businesses.

Finastra Risk is a fully automated, end-to-end solution that allows banks to manage risk and margin monitoring. This is as well as balance sheet optimisation and regulatory reporting. With one dashboard and seamless integration with existing architecture, Risk provides a total risk management system that enables better performance, scalability and visibility for timely and accurate decision-making.

“SYSTEX is a market leader in integrated business solutions and technology services, and we are pleased to partner with them to fuel banks’ trading operations in Taiwan,” said Zhu. “Together, we look to bring a comprehensive end-to-end offering to banks in Taiwan. As a result, this will fuel digital transformation and business growth for banks in this important market.”

Reese Chang, vice president of SYSTEX Co., Ltd. said: “This partnership will provide innovative and comprehensive financial information technology services and solutions. Fintech upgrades and transformation require vertical integration capabilities. Consequently, through this partnership, we are making a strategic breakthrough in the financial services sector.”

Seamless Asia, one of Asia’s flagship fintech events, took place at the Suntec Singapore this week, serving as a pivotal platform for charting the future trajectory of payments, banking, and e-commerce in the region.

With more than 2,900 attendees comprising payments, banking, and e-commerce innovators from across Asia and beyond, the event buzzed with insights, trends, and predictions shaping the financial industry.

Boasting over 70 insightful sessions spread across five stages, Seamless Asia provided a comprehensive forum for attendees to delve into the latest developments and strategies driving the evolution of the sector.

Amid the bustling atmosphere of Seamless Asia, we had the opportunity to chat to Andreas Rudorfer, regional director of APAC for transaction data management company Intix, to gain valuable insights into the region’s financial intricacies and his experience at the event.

Can you provide an overview of the current transaction data management landscape in the region and how it has evolved over the past few years?

Transaction data, particularly in the context of cross-border payments, has grown increasingly vital as transactions move towards near-real-time processing, with the goal of achieving real-time transactions. This shift necessitates a deeper understanding of transaction data than is commonly recognised.

Modern transaction data management solutions, such as Intix, specialise in monitoring the seamless flow of transactions, identifying any potential disruptions, whether technical issues or approval delays. Our objective is to provide comprehensive visibility for every transaction entering or leaving the bank, thereby enhancing customer service. This is crucial in an era where the expectation for immediate, delay-free payments is becoming the norm.

What are the primary transaction data management challenges that financial institutions in APAC are currently facing?

Discussing cross-border transactions reveals unique challenges, especially in a globalised context. I think it’s fair to say that Asia is currently at the forefront of innovations in payment systems. The region has distinguished itself through the establishment of bilateral payment rails, allowing for real-time payments between certain countries, such as Singapore and Malaysia, directly from mobile phones.

This level of interconnectivity is more advanced than what is observed in other regions, including Europe, which tends to lag in this aspect. Furthermore, Asia is proactive in implementing the necessary legal frameworks to support these advancements. Unlike the EU, which benefits from uniform regulations and a shared legal framework for its member states, Asia presents a tapestry of diversity with no overarching structures.

Given the diverse regulatory environment across APAC, how does Intix ensure compliance with local transaction data management and privacy laws?

When payment rails are established, they involve corresponding banks, and transactions are increasingly expected to flow in real-time. There is a significant collaborative effort among countries to set up these rails. Intix addresses a critical aspect of banking operations that extends beyond the external environment to the internal workings of a bank, which often involve multiple systems and silos. This complexity can lead to payment failures within the bank itself, which can end up being costly.

Intix aims to complement these external efforts by focusing on the banks’ internal challenges. Many banks operate on outdated infrastructure, which necessitates modernisation to identify and mitigate risks effectively. Intix provides the tools to detect transactions that may become stuck, enabling banks to address these issues promptly before they impact the customer.

Are there any other challenges that financial institutions in the region are facing?

Broadly speaking, banks are at a critical juncture where modernisation is not just beneficial but necessary. Upgrading their processes to align with current standards enables them to handle transactions more effectively. This transition has a profound effect on their infrastructure, presenting an ideal opportunity for us to provide support. In the realm of transactions, our role is to monitor the integration of new systems, ensuring that everything operates as intended.

Our involvement is crucial in maintaining the internal flow of transactions, akin to the external payment rails. However, our focus is primarily on the internal mechanisms of the bank, ensuring smooth operations within. The advent of new regulations poses a significant challenge to this smoothness, as they can disrupt established processes. By staying engaged and proactive, we aim to mitigate these disruptions, facilitating a seamless transaction environment that adapts to regulatory changes without compromising efficiency or customer service.

How significant are industry events like Seamless Asia for companies like Intix operating in the APAC region?

Events like Seamless Asia really highlight the enthusiasm and sense of community across the APAC financial sector. We share this enthusiasm and want to play our part in helping to advance the region’s banking sector, supporting it in adapting to the latest technologies. This week’s participation offers us the opportunity to do this, while staying abreast of other trends that are affecting this part of the world.

Investors across the globe want to have access to the US investment market. However, this is not always possible due to regional regulations. Opening access for those in the Asia Pacific, Ondo Finance, the on-chain finance firm is offering its tokenised products to those in the region. 

Ondo currently offers three tokenised products: OUSG, providing exposure to US Treasuries; OMMF, providing exposure to US money market funds; and USDY, providing a yield-bearing alternative to conventional stablecoins. The expansion coincides with the region’s growing interest in digital assets. It has been spurred by factors like a thriving crypto community, evolving regulatory landscapes, and increasing interest in exposure to US assets.

Welcome to the team

To facilitate this expansion, Ondo opened its APAC office and appointed Ashwin Khosa as vice president of business development in the region. With nearly 10 years of Hong Kong-based institutional business development experience at Citi, Tether and Bitfinex, Khosa brings to Ondo both substantial understanding of on-chain finance and deep knowledge of the Asia Pacific market.

“I’m thrilled to be joining the Ondo team and building out our presence in APAC,” said Khosa. “The team is top-notch and the mission of bringing real-world assets on-chain is extremely important. I look forward to working closely with partners in the region to help investors gain access to this next generation of high-quality assets.”

“We’re very excited about our expansion into APAC,” said Nathan Allman, founder and CEO of Ondo. “There is an active and rapidly growing crypto community and an appreciation for the type of high-quality exposure to US assets that our tokens provide.”

This most recent announcement comes on the heels of several major announcements by Ondo over the past few weeks such as its strategic roadmap, which lays out its view of the current state of the industry and its high-level plans over the next 24 months.

Building on growing momentum 

The expansion was announced following the completion of previous milestones. Most recently, Ondo launched the Ondo Points program to reward community members and increase awareness of products in the Ondo Ecosystem.

Participating in the community and DAO, using Ondo products and services, and engaging in the three campaigns provide opportunities to earn points. The first is a wasted stablecoin interest competition; the second is rewarding the community and the last is rewarding the ecosystem.

In late December, the company also partnered with Mantle and Solana. As a result, it brought USDY to their chains in addition to a proposal to release the ONDO token lock-up.

Sylvera, a carbon data provider, is extending its operations into the Asia Pacific region and collaborating with the Singapore Government to enable the utilisation of carbon credits to support its objectives within the framework of the Paris Agreement.

Article 6.2 of the Paris Agreement creates the basis for countries to trade carbon credits between one another through a market mechanism to help achieve their climate goals, after they’ve reduced as much of their emissions as possible.

The partnership supports Singapore’s mission to become an international carbon markets hub and set a global precedent on environmental integrity.

Benedict Chia, director general for climate change at the National Climate Change Secretariat in the Prime Minister’s Office – Strategy Group said: “Singapore is committed to facilitating the development of a high integrity carbon market. To achieve this, we need to leverage data and innovative technologies to monitor emissions reductions and removals in carbon credit projects. We welcome the launch of Sylvera’s regional office in Singapore to provide solutions on this front.”

Sylvera will help Singapore identify high-quality carbon credits, referred to as ITMOs in the Article 6.2 context, to purchase from other countries and to also drive rapid climate finance to the areas having real climate impact and use the credits towards its Paris Agreement goals.

Combining technology with leading carbon measurement methodologies, Sylvera provides ratings and data assessing climate action investments, including carbon credits, which allow organisations and pioneering countries like Singapore to confidently deliver their climate strategies and work towards societal net zero.

“Singapore has seen the benefits that carbon markets can provide in the transition to net zero with its ambitious goals,” Samuel Gill, co-founder and president of Sylvera, also commented.

“It’s vital that more international leaders seize the benefits that high-quality carbon credits provide to make real progress on their Paris Agreement goals. We increasingly hear from governments the critical role for independent assurance to play to ensure their credits purchased are driving real climate action and societal net zero progress.”

New office

This news comes as Sylvera announces its expansion to the region with a local presence and office in Singapore, with the support of Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB). The local presence will also help the company serve clients in Singapore and the wider APAC region.

Sylvera CEO and co-founder Allister Furey, also added: “The opening of our new office is the latest step in our ambition to incentivise investment in real climate action and work with even more organisations around the world, from governments to private companies, to help them deliver their net zero strategies.”

Despite challenges of funding pressure, rising interest rates, and inflation, the long-term outlook for fintech in the Asia Pacific region remains promising, according to insights shared by Discover Global Network at this September’s Global Fintech Fest (GFF) in India.

The three-day conference in Mumbai’s Jio World Convention Centre – organised by the National Payments Corporation of India and industry association Payments Council of India – gathered policymakers, regulators, bankers and thought leaders from across the global fintech community.

Billed as the world’s largest fintech conference this year, GFF hosted 900 speakers from 30-plus countries, more than 100 product launches, 80 whitepaper releases and a footfall of 65,000 delegates from over 100 countries.

As a thought leader in the industry, Discover Global Network shed light on the promising long-term outlook for fintech in the APAC region with insights from its . Surveying consumers, fintech vendors and venture capitalists globally, the report provides a 360-view of perspectives and emerging payment trends shaping the fintech ecosystem.

In a fireside chat, Chris Winter, head of international markets APAC, Discover^® Global Network, joined forces with Jordan McKee, head of fintech research at S&P Global Market Intelligence to highlight the growth prospects for fintechs in the Asia Pacific region despite the challenging economic environment.

Notably, 94 per cent of venture capitalists have a strong growth outlook for fintech over the next five years, placing it in the top three emerging tech sectors favoured for investment.

Good to collaborate

Partnerships are emerging as a crucial strategy for fintechs to drive growth and differentiate themselves. Investors are placing strong emphasis on companies’ partnership strategies, with partner ecosystems ranking as the number one investment strategy shift made by VCs over the past 12 to 18 months, cited by 55 per cent of respondents.

For fintechs, partnerships and technology capabilities are tied as the top factors believed to be critical to the success of their organisation.

The insights also highlight the top areas where fintechs believe they could benefit from the support of a partner, including financial investment, access to customers, technology enablement, technology/core infrastructure development, and credibility. Moreover, among fintechs that rely on payments networks, 93 per cent have increased their reliance due to the current economic environment – rising to 98 per cent for fintechs headquartered in India.

“[Collaboration] plays a pivotal role in driving innovation and growth,” commented Winter. “One major strength of Discover Global Network is the ecosystem together. A lot of what we do is introducing [industry players to one another] to help provide value-added services, or enhanced services, to their customer base.

“This collaborative approach is central to our strategy in the Asia Pacific region, where forging alliances and creating synergies is instrumental in advancing the payments ecosystem.”

Mature market

One of the standout findings from the fireside chat was the significant digital payment maturity in the Asia Pacific region. The report’s data revealed that an impressive 96 per cent of consumers in Asia had used at least one digital payment service over the past 90 days, outpacing North America (86 per cent) and Europe (80 per cent).

Notably, digital wallets gained widespread adoption, with 73 per cent of consumers in Asia relying on them for their transactions in the past 90 days. In fact, various payment methods in Asia exhibited robust usage frequency growth, indicating the region’s comfort with emerging technologies.

Intriguingly, the report unveiled the prevalence of QR code payments in some APAC markets. As India is a hub for global tourism, this is a trend that might not be as prominent in a cardholder’s home market.  QR codes have integrated into daily transactions in APAC, offering a convenient and efficient payment method.

In APAC, QR code payments rank as the second most frequently utilised digital payment method in the last 90 days, coming in just behind digital wallets. The prevalence of QR code payments in this region far exceeds that of other global regions. A substantial 70 per cent of individuals in APAC have conducted QR code payments within the past 90 days, a figure more than 50 per cent higher than that observed in North America and Europe.

These insights underscore the adaptability and readiness of consumers in the Asia Pacific region to embrace emerging payment technologies, positioning APAC as a leader in cryptocurrency usage, connected commerce purchases and biometric payments.

In fact, 72 per cent of consumers have used a real-time payment experience in the past 90 days-rising to 90 percent in India.

Next-generation payments and fintech experiences, such as real-time payments and open banking, also remain highly favoured among consumers. Younger individuals, especially those in Asia who heavily rely on financial services apps and digital payment platforms, are best positioned for swift adoption of these innovative financial solutions.

“Our report reveals that in some APAC markets, QR codes are prevalent, which may not be the case in a cardholder’s home market,” said McKee. “These QR codes have become an integral part of daily transactions in APAC, offering a seamless and efficient way for consumers to make payments.”

Enhancing security and trust

The GFF chat also shed light on the factors influencing the preference and usage of emerging financial experiences in the Asia Pacific region. Security and fraud prevention took centre stage as consumers emphasise the need for better fraud controls and the utmost importance of personal information security.

This heightened focus on security has paved the way for fintechs in Asia to seek partnerships, particularly in the realm of payment data security.

Payment tokenisation and secure provisioning of payment credentials also emerged as pivotal areas of interest for fintechs in Asia, reflecting their commitment to ensuring secure financial experiences for consumers.

Interestingly, banks played a crucial role as trusted partners in this evolving landscape. They were regarded as the most trusted providers for all emerging payment experiences among consumers in Asia, affirming the pivotal role of collaboration between fintechs and traditional financial institutions in advancing the fintech ecosystem in the region.

Delve into more insight into global trends in payments.

Source: S&P Global Market Intelligence Global Fintech Vendor, Consumer and Venture Capitalist surveys, commissioned by Discover Global Network, Q1-Q2 2023