The latest report published by Hamburg-based market intelligence firm yStats.com, “Asia-Pacific Real-Time Payment Market 2023” summarizes changes and developments taking place within the market. Some key findings of the report include forecasts of market size and growth patterns of real-time payment ecosystems in various countries of Asia-Pacific.
Real-time payment methods are evolving in Asia-Pacific, with Singapore taking the lead in developing real-time cross-border payments.
The post-pandemic world saw increased use of digital modes of payment such as BNPL, one-click payments as well as real-time payments. By reducing the costs of transactions and increasing the success rate of payments, real-time transfers proved to be beneficial for consumers and businesses alike. Thus, the market size of real-time payments is forecasted to see a double-digit CAGR from 2022 through 2028, with the value reaching billions of euros by 2028, as spelled out by the new yStats.com report. Real-time payments came into existence when Japan introduced its real-time payment system, Zengin in 1973, thus, though not an entirely new concept, the idea of real-time payments today is more modern and advanced due to its collaboration with open banking. Countries globally and especially in Asia-Pacific such as India, Singapore, and Australia, among others have taken steps towards developing their own real-time payment system. Within Asia-Pacific, Singapore is showing signs of growth in terms of its real-time payment landscape, with the share of real-time payments in terms of volume forecasted to rise by certain percentage points by 2026, up from 2021. In terms of value, however, the share of real-time payments is forecasted to witness a significant increase by 2025, with real-time payments accounting for more than half the share of all types of payment transactions as of 2025. Singapore has developed its real-time payment system known as FAST, facilitating real-time transfers between consumers and businesses. However, as the payment system took up to 3 business days, Paynow was developed in 2017 which allowed instant transfers and is available 24/7. The financial authorities in Singapore are also taking steps to introduce a real-time cross-border payment system, allowing the transfer of funds between Singapore and other Asian nations in real-time, as revealed by the new yStats.com report.
Other Asian nations are also gradually developing their real-time payment infrastructure.
Within Asia-Pacific, India is leading in the pack in terms of adoption and usage of the real-time payment system. Witnessing a forecasted double-digit CAGR through 2026, the number of real-time transactions in India will reach a triple-digit number in the billions by 2026. Furthermore, Unified Payment Interface (UPI), India’s real-time payment system grew consistently during H1 2022 in terms of volume and value of transactions, with value reaching certain trillions of euros as of June 2022, according to the new yStats.com report. Other nations in Asia -the Pacific such as Thailand, Sri Lanka, Philippines, and Australia are also catching up and have developed their own real-time payment systems, showing signs of growth in the real-time payment ecosystem. Australia for instance launched the New Payments Platform, an initiative of 13 banks facilitating the instant transfer of funds between businesses and consumers. To further simplify the process, the system allows registration via PayID such as email or mobile number. Thus, nearly half of the surveyed users in Australia claimed to make use of PayID at least once a week as of May 2022. With the growing popularity of real-time payment in Australia, the total number of transactions via real-time payments is forecasted to grow at a double-digit CAGR between 2021 and 2026, reaching a number in the billions as of 2026.
