Contactless & cashless FinTech to flourish in emerging economies in APAC

Emerging economies in the APAC region are becoming a potent market for fintech, payments systems, and contactless transactions. One of the reasons is the increase in smartphone penetration leading to higher numbers of contactless mobile payment users in the region.

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For instance, in March, Crayon Data, an artificial intelligence and big data company headquartered in Singapore tied up with Visa. Crayon Data’s flagship platform, maya.ai generates insights based on non-PII consumer data powers digital personal storefronts for leading card issuer in India (~15M customers, ~30B$ portfolio); successful digital wallet in ASEAN (~10M customers, 25B$ portfolio); and personalized lifestyle marketplace for a leading Islamic bank in UAE (~1M customers, 15B portfolio).

APAC is set to grow fastest in cashless transaction volume growing by 109%, followed by Africa and Europe

Suresh Shankar, CEO & Founder of Crayon Data

Suresh Shankar, CEO & Founder of Crayon Data, says, “APAC is set to grow fastest in cashless transaction volume growing by 109%, followed by Africa and Europe.”

Similarly, in February, RBL Bank and Export-Import Bank of India (India Exim Bank), entered an agreement under the Trade Assistance Programme (TAP) to support cross-border trade transactions. With India Exim Bank’s support, RBL Bank plans to gain footholds in nations where trade lines are constrained.

Through the programme, India Exim Bank will extend trade lines to participating overseas banks/institutions in emerging markets. The credit enhancements to trade instruments provided under TAP, will help mobilise trade finance and would increase support to Indian exporters.

The financing structure of this arrangement provides us with an opportunity to offer trade services in untapped markets while lowering the risks associated with global trade

R Subramaniakumar, MD & CEO, RBL Bank

R Subramaniakumar, MD & CEO, RBL Bank said, “The financing structure of this arrangement provides us with an opportunity to offer trade services in untapped markets while lowering the risks associated with global trade.”

Harsha B Bangari, Managing Director, India Exim Bank said, “Under the programme, India Exim Bank has already supported multiple trade transactions covering a wide range of sectors including agriculture, automotive and automotive parts, capital and engineering goods, food, iron & steel and textiles involving exports to geographies in Africa, Asia and Latin America.”

Another momentous partnership in the region was between the Monetary Authority Singapore (MAS) and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) when launching the PayNow-UPI linkage.

Smartphone penetration ups contactless mobile payment users

According to a Juniper Research study the number of unique contactless mobile payment users will touch 1 billion worldwide by 2024, rising from 782 million in 2022, a 60% growth. The report predicts higher investment in contactless acceptance infrastructure, especially in emerging regions, leading to over 200 million new contactless payment users in the market by 2024.

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The research identifies rising smartphone penetration in emerging regions as the major reason of this growth. Smartphone penetration in emerging regions like Asia Pacific is set to surpass 99% by 2024, facilitating another 67 million users to adopt mobile payments because they will then own the required hardware to conduct NFC payments through their handsets.