A RECENT study by Visa has found that 93% of consumers in Southeast Asia (SEA) are using a multitude of cashless payment methods including cards, contactless cards and mobile contactless cards, mobile wallets and QR code payments.
This was led by consumers in Singapore (97%), Malaysia (96%), Indonesia (95%) and Vietnam (95%), according to its Consumer Payment Attitudes Study 2022 titled “Navigating a New Era in Payments”.
However, an increasing number of consumers are opting for cashless payments in markets where cash remains dominant, such as Cambodia, the Philippines and Vietnam.
Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, it said over half of Southeast Asian consumers use cash less frequently (56%), particularly those in Indonesia (68%), the Philippines (66%), and Malaysia (60%).
“Contactless cards are poised for further growth in the region due to high awareness (69%) and interest (75%) among non-users,” the study said.
“Awareness is highest in Singapore (90%), Thailand (87%) and Malaysia (84%), with consumers in the Philippines (89%), Thailand (86%) and Vietnam (83%) being the most interested to use this payment method.”
On the topic of growth for digital banks, the study said that the adoption of digital banking services is expected to rise as SEA’s banking landscape continues to witness liberation.
For example, in Singapore, four recipients of digital banking licenses plan to begin operations this year while the Philippines granted six digital banking licenses in 2021.
Meanwhile, Malaysia has just awarded five digital banking licenses in April 2022 while Thailand and Indonesia are exploring licenses for fully digital banks, Bernama reported.
The study also revealed that 74% of Malaysian consumers have succeeded in going cashless. “Home delivery usage remains high in Malaysia with nine in 10 consumers currently using it. Of this, one thirds (1/3) are first time users during the pandemic,” the study said.
The top three reasons for carrying less cash were attributed to the increased use of contactless payments (75%), increased use of card payments (60%) and more widespread acceptance of cashless payments (45%).
The study also noted that currently, 70% of consumers used card online, while 56% chose contactless card and 40% opted for mobile contactless as their digital payment method in the market.
The latest survey was commissioned by Visa and conducted from August to September 2021 among 6,520 consumers aged 18-65 years of age in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, and Cambodia. – June 17, 2022
