The Southeast Asia digital payments market, measured by transaction value, was valued at USD 810 billion in 2025. This market is expected to reach USD 3.3 trillion by 2036, growing from USD 940 billion in 2026, at a CAGR of 13.4% from 2026 to 2036.

Key Highlights – Southeast Asia Digital Payments Market

• The Southeast Asia digital payments market is expected to reach USD 3.3 trillion by 2036, at a CAGR of 13.4% from 2026 to 2036.
• Indonesia is the largest market, followed by Thailand, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Singapore.
• Mobile and QR payments account for the largest share, supported by national real-time systems.
• Digital wallets and QR codes are the main methods, and digital payments are expected to account for most e-commerce payments by 2028.
• Indonesia's QRIS had over 56 million users and about 38 million merchants by early 2025, most of them small businesses.
• Cross-border QR links national systems, including QRIS, PromptPay, DuitNow, PayNow, and others, across the region.
• As of December 2025, the region had 29 cross-border payment linkages, and Project Nexus is on track for rollout in 2026.
• High mobile use, a large underbanked population, and e-commerce are the main drivers.
• Key companies include Grab Holdings, GoTo, Sea Limited (ShopeePay), Mynt (GCash), and Ant International (Alipay+).

Report Overview

The Southeast Asia digital payments market covers electronic payments made through digital wallets, QR codes, real-time bank transfers, cards, and buy-now-pay-later, for in-store, online, person-to-person, bill, and cross-border payments, measured by transaction value. Southeast Asia is one of the fastest-growing digital payments regions in the world, with adoption rising from about USD 600 billion in 2021 to over USD 1 trillion in transaction value by 2025 on a broad measure, driven by high mobile use, a large underbanked population, and e-commerce. National real-time payment and QR systems, including Indonesia's QRIS, Thailand's PromptPay, and Malaysia's DuitNow, and their cross-border linkages, are central to the market. This report examines the market's size, drivers, segmentation, country markets, pricing, competition, recent developments, and outlook, and provides recommendations for participants.

Key Market Dynamics

Market Drivers

The main drivers of the Southeast Asia digital payments market are high mobile use and financial inclusion, e-commerce, and national real-time payment systems. The region has high mobile-phone use and a large underbanked and unbanked population, and digital wallets and QR payments provide access to payments for people and small businesses without traditional bank accounts. E-commerce and the region's super-apps, including Grab, GoTo, and Sea, have driven the use of digital payments. National real-time payment and QR systems, such as QRIS, PromptPay, and DuitNow, backed by central banks, have made low-cost digital payments widely available, and their cross-border linkages support regional payments. These factors, mobile use and financial inclusion, e-commerce, and real-time systems, are the main drivers.

Key Opportunities

The market offers opportunities in cross-border payments, in financial inclusion, and in merchant and small-business digitization. Cross-border QR and real-time payment linkages, and initiatives such as Project Nexus, offer opportunities to serve travel, remittances, and regional commerce. Financial inclusion, reaching the region's large underbanked population, offers a large opportunity for wallets and digital payments. Merchant and small-business digitization, extending QR and digital payments to the region's many micro and small merchants, most of which have adopted QRIS in Indonesia, is a large opportunity. These areas, cross-border payments, financial inclusion, and merchant digitization, are the main opportunities.

Market Trends

Current trends include the expansion of cross-border QR and real-time payments, the growth of national QR systems, and consolidation around super-apps and networks. Cross-border QR and real-time payment linkages are expanding, with more national systems connected and initiatives such as Project Nexus advancing. National QR systems, including QRIS and DuitNow, continue to grow rapidly, extending digital payments to small merchants. The market is consolidating around super-apps, wallet providers, and cross-border networks such as Alipay+. These trends indicate a market growing quickly and integrating across the region.

Report Summary

Segmental Analysis

Market by Payment Method

By payment method, the market comprises digital wallets, QR code payments, real-time bank transfers, cards, and buy-now-pay-later. Digital wallets, offered by super-apps and specialized providers, and QR code payments, based on national QR systems, account for the largest share and are the main methods across the region. Real-time bank transfers, through national instant-payment systems, are a large and growing method. Cards, including debit and credit, are used but account for a smaller share than in some other regions, and buy-now-pay-later is a growing method. Digital wallets and QR payments dominate the market, while real-time transfers grow and buy-now-pay-later expands, and the method mix reflects the region's mobile-first, wallet-based payments.

Market by Transaction Type

By transaction type, the market comprises point-of-sale, e-commerce, person-to-person transfers, bill payments, and cross-border payments. Point-of-sale payments, increasingly by QR and wallet, account for a large share, and e-commerce payments, mostly digital, are a large and growing share, expected to account for most e-commerce payments by 2028. Person-to-person transfers, bill payments, and cross-border payments, which are growing quickly through QR and real-time linkages, complete the market. Point-of-sale and e-commerce account for the largest shares, while cross-border payments grow fastest, and the transaction mix reflects the shift to digital across payment types.

Market by End User

By end user, the market comprises consumers and merchants. Consumers use digital wallets, QR, and real-time payments for everyday transactions, and the large, mobile-first population is the basis of the market. Merchants, including the region's many micro, small, and medium enterprises, use QR and digital payments to accept payments, with most QRIS merchants in Indonesia being small businesses. Consumers and merchants both drive the market, with the digitization of small merchants a large source of growth, and the end-user mix reflects the extension of digital payments across consumers and businesses.

Market by Geography

Indonesia Digital Payments Market

Indonesia is the largest digital payments market in Southeast Asia. Indonesia has a large population and a large underbanked population, and its QRIS system had over 56 million users and about 38 million merchants by early 2025, most of them small businesses, recording 2.6 billion transactions in the first quarter of 2025. Digital wallets including GoPay, OVO, DANA, and ShopeePay are widely used. Indonesia's large population, QRIS system, and wallet adoption make it the largest and a central market in the region.

Thailand Digital Payments Market

Thailand is a major market, anchored by its PromptPay real-time system. Thailand's PromptPay is a widely used real-time payment system and serves as a backbone for cross-border linkages with Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, and Indonesia. Digital wallets including TrueMoney are widely used, and QR payments are common. Thailand's real-time system, cross-border linkages, and wallet adoption make it a major and advanced market in the region.

Philippines Digital Payments Market

The Philippines is a major and fast-growing market, led by digital wallets. The Philippines has a large underbanked population and high wallet adoption, led by GCash and Maya, which provide payments, transfers, and financial services, and QR and real-time payments are growing. The country's large population and rapid wallet adoption support growth. The Philippines, with its high wallet adoption and large underbanked population, is a major and fast-growing digital payments market.

Vietnam and Malaysia Digital Payments Market

Vietnam and Malaysia are major and growing markets. Vietnam has high wallet adoption led by MoMo, ZaloPay, and VNPay, and growing QR and real-time payments, and Malaysia has a widely used DuitNow real-time and QR system, with DuitNow QR volume doubling to 3 billion and e-payment transactions rising, and wallets including Touch 'n Go and GrabPay. Both countries combine strong wallet adoption with real-time systems. Vietnam and Malaysia, with their high wallet adoption and real-time systems, are major and growing markets.

Singapore and Rest of Southeast Asia Digital Payments Market

Singapore and the rest of Southeast Asia account for a significant share. Singapore has very high digital payments adoption, reaching about 92% in 2025, and its PayNow system and cross-border linkages, and other markets, including Cambodia with KHQR and others, are growing. These markets combine advanced systems, in Singapore, with growing adoption elsewhere. Singapore, with its high adoption and role in cross-border connectivity, and the rest of Southeast Asia account for a significant and growing part of the market.

Pricing Analysis

Digital payments pricing in Southeast Asia is shaped by merchant fees, the low cost of national QR systems, and provider revenue models. Merchant fees, including merchant discount rates for cards and wallets, are a main source of revenue, but national QR systems, such as QRIS, are designed to keep merchant fees low, particularly for small merchants, to support adoption, and person-to-person transfers are often free. This keeps the cost of digital payments low for consumers and small merchants, supporting adoption, while providers earn revenue from merchant fees, financial services, and, for super-apps, related services. Cross-border payments carry additional costs, though linkages are reducing them. Overall, pricing is characterized by low-cost or free consumer payments and low merchant fees for national QR, with providers earning from merchant fees and broader services, which supports rapid adoption.

Competitive Landscape

The Southeast Asia digital payments market includes super-apps, specialized wallet providers, banks, card networks, and cross-border payment networks. Competition centers on super-apps and wallet providers that offer payments and financial services, banks and national systems, and cross-border networks, with strong competition for consumers and merchants. Participants compete on user base, merchant acceptance, financial services, and, increasingly, cross-border capability, and many providers are part of larger technology or financial groups. As the market grows and integrates, scale, merchant acceptance, and cross-border reach have become central.

Companies active in the market include super-apps and their wallets such as Grab Holdings Limited (GrabPay), GoTo Gojek Tokopedia (GoPay), and Sea Limited (ShopeePay), specialized wallet providers such as Mynt (GCash) and Maya Philippines, Inc. in the Philippines, M_Service (MoMo) and VNG Corporation (ZaloPay) in Vietnam, Ascend Money (TrueMoney) in Thailand, TNG Digital (Touch 'n Go eWallet) in Malaysia, and PT Visionet Internasional (OVO) and PT Espay Debit Indonesia Koe (DANA) in Indonesia, cross-border network Ant International (Alipay+), and card networks Visa Inc. and Mastercard Incorporated. These companies compete on scale, acceptance, services, and cross-border reach.

Key Players

The key companies operating in the Southeast Asia digital payments market include:

• Grab Holdings Limited (GrabPay)
• GoTo Gojek Tokopedia (GoPay)
• Sea Limited (ShopeePay)
• Ant International (Alipay+)
• Mynt (GCash)
• Maya Philippines, Inc.
• M_Service (MoMo)
• VNG Corporation (ZaloPay)
• Ascend Money (TrueMoney)
• TNG Digital (Touch 'n Go eWallet)
• PT Visionet Internasional (OVO)
• PT Espay Debit Indonesia Koe (DANA)
• VNLIFE (VNPay)
• Axiata Digital (Boost)
• Visa Inc.
• Mastercard Incorporated

Voice of Customer

Primary interviews conducted for this study noted that national QR systems drive adoption, that cross-border linkages are growing, and that financial inclusion is central. Three representative perspectives are summarized below.

"National QR systems such as QRIS and DuitNow, backed by central banks and with low merchant fees, are what drove mass adoption, particularly among small merchants. They are the foundation of the market." — Executive, payments provider

"Cross-border QR and real-time linkages are growing quickly, and initiatives such as Project Nexus will connect the region's systems. That is a major opportunity for travel and regional commerce." — Manager, cross-border payments company

"Digital wallets have brought payments and financial services to the large underbanked population, which is where much of the growth and the social impact are." — Director, financial-inclusion organization

Analyst Perspective

In our assessment, the Southeast Asia digital payments market is one of the fastest-growing and most integrated in the world, and its foundation is national real-time and QR systems backed by central banks. The region combines high mobile use, a large underbanked population, and strong e-commerce, and digital wallets and QR payments have grown quickly, with transaction value passing USD 1 trillion on a broad measure by 2025. What distinguishes Southeast Asia is the role of central-bank-backed national systems, such as Indonesia's QRIS, Thailand's PromptPay, and Malaysia's DuitNow, which keep costs low, particularly for small merchants, and drive mass adoption, and the growing cross-border linkages between them, with 29 cross-border payment linkages by the end of 2025 and Project Nexus on track for rollout in 2026. Super-apps and wallet providers, including Grab, GoTo, Sea, GCash, and MoMo, compete for consumers and merchants, and cross-border networks such as Alipay+ connect the region. We expect strong growth over the forecast period, driven by financial inclusion, e-commerce, and cross-border integration, with the strongest growth in cross-border payments and in the digitization of the region's many small merchants.

Key Strategic Developments

• 2026 — Project Nexus on track for rollout: Project Nexus, launched by the BIS Innovation Hub with ASEAN central banks and operated through Nexus Global Payments in Singapore, was on track for rollout in 2026, connecting the instant payment systems of India, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand through a central gateway. Impact: enables multilateral cross-border instant payments across connected countries.
• 2026 — Regional cross-border QR network expands: the cross-border QR payment network expanded, with Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand extending cross-border QR for travel and everyday payments. Impact: makes cross-border QR payments available across more of the region.
• 2026 — ASEAN cross-border payment linkages continue to grow: following 29 cross-border payment linkages processing 36.2 million transactions worth about USD 716 million by December 2025, the ASEAN Regional Payment Connectivity initiative continued to add linkages in 2026. Impact: deepens regional payment integration.
• 2026 — National QR systems continue rapid growth: Indonesia's QRIS, with over 56 million users and about 38 million merchants, and Malaysia's DuitNow QR, which doubled to 3 billion transactions, continued to grow rapidly. Impact: extends digital payments to more consumers and small merchants.
• 2026 — Cross-border networks and super-apps expand acceptance: cross-border networks such as Alipay+ and the region's super-apps continued to expand payment acceptance and services across the region. Impact: broadens acceptance and integrates payments across markets.

Strategic Recommendations

• Build on national QR and real-time systems. Integrate with national QR and real-time systems, such as QRIS, PromptPay, and DuitNow, which are the foundation of the market and provide low-cost mass acceptance.
• Invest in cross-border payments. Build cross-border QR and real-time capability and connect to initiatives such as Project Nexus, to serve the fast-growing travel, remittance, and regional-commerce demand.
• Serve financial inclusion. Provide wallets and payments, and related financial services, to the region's large underbanked population, a large source of growth and impact.
• Digitize small merchants. Extend QR and digital payments to the region's many micro and small merchants, a large and growing opportunity, with low-cost acceptance and simple onboarding.
• Compete on services and scale. Combine payments with financial and other services, as super-apps do, and build scale and merchant acceptance, which are central to competition.
• Plan for a multi-country market. Plan across Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, and other markets, tailoring to each country's systems and regulation, as the market is spread and increasingly integrated across the region.