{"id":16212,"date":"2024-01-04T15:22:07","date_gmt":"2024-01-04T07:22:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.smallcapasia.com\/?p=16212"},"modified":"2026-06-09T00:36:44","modified_gmt":"2026-06-08T16:36:44","slug":"riding-the-wave-of-aseans-digital-payments-revolution","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.smallcapasia.com\/zh-hant\/riding-the-wave-of-aseans-digital-payments-revolution\/","title":{"rendered":"Riding the wave of ASEAN\u2019s Digital Payments Revolution"},"content":{"rendered":"

The ASEAN region, like the rest of the world, has seen a significant boom in the digital economy thanks to the rapid adoption of digital technologies and services by consumers and businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n

According to the e-Conomy SEA report by Google, Temasek, and Bain & Company, Southeast Asia’s digital economy exceeded US$190 billion in gross merchandise value (GMV) in 2022 and is expected to grow at double digits to reach U295 billion by 2025.<\/p>\n

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Digital adoption continues to rise post-pandemic, with key sectors such as e-commerce, transportation and food, travel and online media fueling this growth.<\/p>\n

On this note, monetization has gained momentum across the region over the last two years where the region\u2019s revenue is expected to grow at a rate 1.7x higher than that of GMV. The emphasis on monetization is motivated by the quest for financial sustainability and improved unit economics across various sectors.<\/p>\n

Multiple growth drivers to foster swift adoption<\/h2>\n

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According to the Bloomberg 2021 report, ASEAN possesses the world’s most rapidly expanding mobile wallet market. The upswing in cross-border trade over the past decade has played a pivotal role in driving the adoption of digital payments.<\/p>\n

Historically, cross-border transactions were linked to high costs and prolonged processing times. However, digital payments have now emerged as a convenient and efficient solution to overcome these challenges.<\/p>\n

In fact, a recent global study, conducted in partnership with Juniper Research, predicts a staggering 311% growth in the number of mobile wallets used across Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam from 2020 to nearly 440 million by 2025.<\/p>\n

A PWC report<\/a> also shared about how “consumers are swiftly embracing digital financial services, signaling a shift away from the era where cash reigned supreme\u201d.<\/p>\n

According to a recent report by Google, Temasek, and Bain & Company, digital payments now constitute over 50% of transactions in the region.<\/p>\n

In certain areas like Southeast Asia, the prevalence of digital payments through e-wallets has already surpassed physical card payments and is poised to become the predominant method across point-of-sale systems overall,” noted Dan Jones and Alex Walker of OliverWyman.<\/p>\n

As technology continues to reshape the financial landscape, ASEAN nations are also embracing innovative solutions to cater to the evolving needs of consumers and businesses alike.<\/p>\n

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For instance, to support the development and integration of digital payments in the region, 5 ASEAN central banks – Bank Indonesia, Bank Negara Malaysia, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), and Bank of Thailand – have signed a cooperation agreement to establish an interoperable cross-border payment system that will allow instant and seamless digital transactions across ASEAN countries.<\/p>\n

The system will use QR codes as a common standard for digital payments, enabling users to scan and pay with their preferred mobile wallets or apps. The system will also facilitate remittances and e-commerce transactions, as well as reduce the reliance on cash and the U.S. dollar.<\/p>\n

Tapping on the digital payments\u2019 revolution<\/h2>\n

As the ASEAN digital payments industry continues to flourish, savvy investors are eyeing opportunities to benefit from this upward trajectory.<\/p>\n

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One way is to invest in the companies who have secured digital banking licenses in Singapore to provide banking services entirely online, without any physical branches.<\/p>\n

As of 2023, there are 4 digital banks in Singapore:<\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 GXS Bank (consortium backed by Grab Holdings and Singtel)<\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 MariBank (owned by SEA Limited)<\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Anext Bank (backed by Ant Group \u2013 Alipay)<\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Green Link Digital Bank (consortium involving Greenland Financial, Linklogis Hong Kong, and Beijing Co-operative Equity Investment Fund Management)<\/p>\n

Digital banks help to streamline tedious financial processes and offer various advantages for customers and merchants, such as convenience, efficiency and cost-effectiveness.<\/p>\n

For example, GXS Bank, a consortium backed by Grab Holdings and Singtel, leverages its existing ecosystem of ride-hailing, food delivery, e-commerce, and mobile payments to offer seamless and integrated banking solutions for its users and partners.<\/p>\n

Green Link Digital Bank, backed by Greenland Financial Holdings, intends to use its experience in real estate, logistics, and trade finance to offer cross-border payment and lending solutions for SMEs in Singapore and China.<\/p>\n

Another direct way that investors can tap on the digital payment revolution is through Oxpay Financial, a payment solutions provider that offers online and offline payment services in Singapore and abroad.<\/p>\n

Oxpay Financial operates a payment gateway platform that connects merchants with various payment methods such as credit cards, e-wallets and bank transfers. Given its presence in the 4 ASEAN countries Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand, Oxpay emerges as an attractive investment option for those seeking exposure to the growing digital finance market in ASEAN.<\/p>\n

You can read more about Oxpay Financial\u2019s tie-up with GLDB <\/em>here<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Conclusion<\/h2>\n

With the ASEAN digital banking and payment systems industry undergoing a remarkable transformation, Oxpay Financial, with its innovative solutions and strategic approach, stands out. Oxpay Financial is poised to play a pivotal role in shaping the future of digital payments in ASEAN.<\/p>\n

The shift towards digital payments in ASEAN is not just a fad; it’s a structural shift fueled by technological advancements and changing consumer behaviors.<\/p>\n

As the financial landscape continues to evolve and digitalise, this trend will create many promising investment opportunities for those looking to capitalize on the digital finance boom in the ASEAN region.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The ASEAN region, like the rest of the world, has seen a significant boom in the digital economy thanks to the rapid adoption of digital technologies and services by consumers and businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the e-Conomy SEA report by Google, Temasek, and Bain & Company, Southeast Asia’s digital economy exceeded US$190 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16213,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3127,3123],"tags":[1752,2615,2692,2693,2694,2695,2696],"class_list":["post-16212","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-electronic-ai-technology-global-opportunities","category-global-opportunities","tag-oxpay","tag-gc","tag-gxs-bank","tag-maribank","tag-anext-bank","tag-green-link-digital-bank","tag-digital-banks-singapore"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smallcapasia.com\/zh-hant\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16212","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smallcapasia.com\/zh-hant\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smallcapasia.com\/zh-hant\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smallcapasia.com\/zh-hant\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smallcapasia.com\/zh-hant\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16212"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.smallcapasia.com\/zh-hant\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16212\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16219,"href":"https:\/\/www.smallcapasia.com\/zh-hant\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16212\/revisions\/16219"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smallcapasia.com\/zh-hant\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16213"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smallcapasia.com\/zh-hant\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16212"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smallcapasia.com\/zh-hant\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16212"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smallcapasia.com\/zh-hant\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16212"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}