2020 Asia Pacific eCommerce and Payment Study – Rising Digital Payments Across Asia Pacific

Rapyd, a global Fintech as a Service company, has released its 2020 Asia Pacific eCommerce and Payment Study. The study analysed the financial habits, payment methods, considerations, and preferences of consumers in seven Asia Pacific countries, uncovering how consumer buying expectations and behaviours are evolving in an increasingly digital world.

The research, conducted in March and April 2020, surveyed 3,500 online consumers – 500 respondents per country in India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, and Thailand. The results highlight a quick rise of new payment technologies that have emerged in recent years and gained rapid adoption and popularity by offering a convenient payment experience, adapting to local context, and providing access to digital payments for traditionally underbanked communities.

The study helps businesses gain insights into consumer buying habits and payment diversity in Asia, helping eCommerce and mCommerce businesses increase their addressable audience and include new customer segments into the Internet economy by adopting the most relevant digital payment options, as buyers go increasingly cashless during the current health crisis.

Country by Method Payment Used Most

E-commerce and mobile-commerce in the seven countries is worth some $355 billion, as presented in the study. Southeast Asia’s internet economy hit $100 billion in 2019 and is expected to grow to $300 billion by 2025.

Joel Yarbrough, Vice President for Asia Pacific, Rapyd said, “Since the beginning of the global pandemic, going digital is no longer optional. eCommerce is now the new baseline. All over Asia, we see stratospheric growth in digital payment methods, with local patterns and local winners in every country. With this report, Rapyd provides businesses with the local market insights on payment behaviors, brands of choice, and technologies that are critical in creating a relevant checkout experience for consumers today.”

Challenge for Card-Only Merchants

While cards and card-powered mobile wallets are dominant in Japan (61%) and Taiwan (51%), across markets, there is a dramatic uptake of eWallets and bank transfers as preferred ways to pay.

Taken together, eWallets and bank transfers represent the emerging wave of payments – particularly where they are enhanced by interoperable Real-Time Payment (RTP) systems like India with UPI (64%) and Thailand with PromptPay (62%). Even in a card-preferring market like Singapore, together eWallets and bank transfers, including PayNow, are preferred by 42% of respondents, swinging all the way to 78% in Indonesia.

Key findings for each country include:

Singapore

Most Used Payments Method in Singapore

• Real-time bank payments are on the rise: PayNow and FAST bank transfers are rising in importance as concerns about coronavirus converge with several years of government investment.
• PayNow is in #2 spot among the top payment methods with 70% of respondents using it in the last month.
• GrabPay is the 3rd most popular payment method after Credit Cards and PayNow.

Indonesia

• OVO Wallet is the #1 frequently used payment method with 69% respondents claiming to have used it in the past month, and the country’s most preferred one with 17.8% respondents choosing it amongst all payment brands.
• Indonesian consumers strongly prefer ewallets to cards and cash with 33.8% choosing one of three eWallets (OVO, Go-Pay, or Dana) as their preferred way to pay.
• Real-time bank transfers including both virtual accounts and older bank redirects are preferred 44% of the time on the archipelago.

Malaysia

Most Used Payments Method in Malaysia

• Bank transfer by Maybank2U, owned by Maybank, the largest bank in the country, is the most popular online payment method by usage (65%) and preference (21.4%).
• eWallets including Touch N Go, Boost, PayPal, and GrabPay are all of rising importance with 22% respondents choosing them as their preferred payment methods.
• Cash on Delivery remains relevant with 65% users claiming to have done it in the past month, prior to the Movement Control Order (MCO).

India

• 85% of Indian respondents used Paytm in the last month.
• With the growth of India’s UPI payment scheme, eWallets (including Paytm, Google Pay, Amazon Pay) are preferred by 51.2% of users and bank transfers by 11.9%.
• Debit and credit cards together are preceded by 28% of respondents.
• 49% of respondents make online purchases daily (highest among all countries surveyed).

Japan

• Most consumers still prefer credit cards and cash over the counter.
• Amongst mobile payment methods, the PayPay eWallet is rapidly gaining popularity with 41% users claiming to have used it in the past month, and 9.6% choosing it over all other payment methods.

Taiwan

• Credit cards continue to be the top payment method in Taiwan both in terms of usage and preference.
• Consumers appear to use multiple payment types depending on the use case, with preferences split almost equally between credit cards, pay-on-pickup at convenience stores, bank transfers, local Easycard, and eWallets.

Thailand

• The TrueMoney eWallet is the leading payment method with 66% of respondents using it regularly, and 16.8% choosing it over any other payment method.
• Together, eWallets and bank transfers make up the most popular payment methods chosen by 62.2% users – a trend accelerated by the interoperable PromptPay payment scheme.
• Cash is still preferred in highly digital Thailand by 19.4% of respondents.

Consumers in the region and current conditions continue to push businesses towards digitalisation and as digital adoption accelerates, it is essential for businesses to invest in the right technologies to build a strong online presence supporting mobile and social commerce trends catering to each market. This localisation is the key to sustaining the business in the time of the COVID-19 crisis, and for speedier recovery and further long-term growth.