Credit cards are the leading payment method used by online shoppers worldwide. However, in recent years, E-Wallets such as PayPal have shown a strong potential to overtake traditional credit cards. In Asia-Pacific’s E-Commerce, digital and mobile wallets have already become the leading payment method used by online shoppers. Thanks mostly to China, digital wallets hold nearly a 50% share of the E-Commerce market among other payment methods such as bank cards and bank transfers.
China rapidly moves forward to a cashless society with an increasing popularity of mobile payment methods like Alipay and WeChat Pay. In many other emerging markets of the Asia-Pacific region, such as India, cash on delivery remains the most preferred payment method for online purchases. However, a variety of factors stimulate the adoption of digital payment solutions. The demonetization reform in India in 2017 opened new opportunities for the growth of cashless payment transactions. Nearly half of online shoppers living in Indian cities switched from cash on delivery to online payment methods after demonetization. The rising mobile Internet penetration rates among consumers in Malaysia, Philippines and Thailand also drive the adoption of mobile payments.
The advanced E-Commerce markets in the Asia-Pacific region are still dependent on credit cards. In comparison to emerging ones, in these markets, a lower tendency to the adoption of alternative or new payment methods is observed. Due to a high credit card penetration rate, more than half of online consumers in Japan prefer to pay online via cards. The situation is similar in South Korea where credit cards are at least two times more popular than any other online payment method. At the same time, an increasing number of shoppers are choosing a perceived more convenient way of payment, such as mobile and digital wallets. Last year, the share of digital buyers using E-Wallets increased significantly in countries such as Australia and Singapore.
To find out more details on the online and payment trends in this fast-growing region see the full report by yStats.com, “Asia-Pacific Online Payment Methods: Full Year 2017”.
