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Asia’s payments shift as more people ditch cards

By Vriti Gothi

Today

  • AI
  • APAC
  • APAC news
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Contactless Payments, Digital wallets, Open Banking, FinTech

Over 70% of online payments in Asia now run through alternative payment methods (APMs) like QR codes, bank transfers, and eWallets instead of traditional cards.

The shift highlights how consumers across the region are demanding faster, more flexible ways to pay in their everyday lives, whether it’s paying for groceries, splitting a taxi fare, or topping up mobile data, all with a few taps on a phone.

In high-growth markets like India and Indonesia, domestic innovations are leading this rapid transformation. India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) has emerged as a global benchmark for real-time bank transfers, processing billions of transactions every month and setting a new standard for instant, frictionless payments. Meanwhile, Indonesia’s QRIS system, a national QR code standard, has helped unify a once-fragmented QR code landscape, allowing small businesses and informal merchants to accept digital payments easily and affordably.

Singapore’s PayNow system is another example of how Southeast Asia is driving regional payment interoperability. PayNow’s cross-border link with India’s UPI shows how countries are beginning to connect domestic payment rails, allowing consumers and businesses to move money seamlessly across borders. With more such partnerships in the pipeline, the region is moving steadily towards a more integrated digital payments network.

What may appear at first glance to be a chaotic patchwork of QR codes, wallets, and bank apps is an ecosystem designed around local needs. For many consumers, these methods are far more accessible than cards or branches. Millions remain underbanked or prefer to pay directly from their bank accounts or digital wallets without incurring card fees. For small merchants, especially in rural or informal markets, accepting a QR payment or bank transfer is often simpler and cheaper than setting up a card terminal.

Supporting this evolution is NASDAQ-listed cross-border payments leader dLocal, which enables global merchants to accept local payments in emerging markets. The company’s newly released 2025 Emerging Markets Payments Handbook provides insights drawn from actual transaction data and on-the-ground trends, offering a realistic view of how people pay and how fast those habits are changing.

For global brands and merchants expanding in Asia, keeping up with these shifts is now critical. Local payment options have moved from being a ‘nice-to-have’ to a ‘must-have’ for companies aiming to reduce checkout friction and reach new customer segments. In markets where credit card penetration is low, offering popular APMs can be the difference between conversion and cart abandonment.

Rising digital literacy, affordable smartphones, and supportive regulatory frameworks are fuelling this shift even further. Governments across Asia are actively promoting QR code adoption, real-time payment networks, and open banking initiatives to boost financial inclusion and digitise their economies. In India, UPI’s success has sparked other countries to adopt or expand their own instant payment systems, creating a network effect that could reshape how money moves across Asia in the years ahead.

With payment rails growing more connected from India and Singapore to Thailand, Malaysia, and beyond the future of digital payments in Asia is becoming clear: instant, cardless, and deeply embedded in everyday life.

For businesses looking to grow in these dynamic markets, adapting to local payment preferences is no longer optional it’s fundamental to staying relevant in an increasingly digital economy.

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