Asia-Pacific region is gearing up for the next phase of its real-time payments journey as major players seek new growth opportunities, according to the third edition of Prime Time for Real Time 2022, published by ACI Worldwide, in partnership with GlobalData, a data and analytics company, and the Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr).
The report – tracking real-time payments volumes and growth across 53 countries – includes an economic impact study, providing a broad view of the economic benefits of real-time payments for consumers, businesses and the broader economy across 30 countries.
The report covers all G20 nations, excluding Russia.
The research shows that gov’ts that advance the real-time modernization of their national payments infrastructure create a win-win situation for all stakeholders in the ecosystem.
Consumers and businesses benefit from frictionless and hyper-connected payments services, financial institutions future-proof their business in a competitive environment by speeding up cloud-first and data-centric modernization, and national governments boost economic growth, reduce the size of their shadow economy and create a fairer financial system for all.
How did the Asia-Pacific countries fare?
These are the highlights Asia-Pacific (APAC):
Thailand
- In 2021 Thailand recorded 9.7 billion real-time transactions, the fourth leading country in the world. The widespread adoption of real-time payments resulted in estimated cost savings of US$1.3 billion for businesses and consumers in 2021, which helped to unlock US$6 billion of additional economic output, representing 1.12% of the country’s GDP.
- With payments transactions expected to rise to $25.7bn in 2026, net savings for consumers and businesses are forecast to climb to $3.9bn in 2026, generating an additional $13.4bn of economic output, equivalent to 2.08% of it’s forecasted GDP.
- Of all countries covered in the Cebr economic impact study, by 2026 it has the second largest forecast GDP facilitated by real-time payments in percentage terms (2.08%).
Singapore
- Singapore saw real-time payments transactions hit 256 million and realized approximately $US105 million worth of cost savings for businesses and consumers, while adding $US349 million of additional economic output, equivalent to 0.10 % of GDP.
- Real-time payments transactions are predicted to reach 603 million in 2026, a CAGR of 18.7% – net savings for consumers and businesses are expected to reach $US231 million, generating additional economic output of $US573 million, or 0.15% of GDP.
Malaysia
- Malaysia recorded 1.1 billion real-time payments transactions in 2021, accounting for an estimated $US434 million cost savings for businesses and consumers, and unlocking $US364 million of additional economic output, equivalent to 1.11 % of GDP.
- Cebr forecasts real-time transactions to grow at 3.6 billion in 2026, a CAGR of 26.9%, with net savings for consumers and businesses expected to reach $US637 million in 2026, generating additional economic output of $US954 million, or 0.2% of GDP.
Indonesia
- In 2021, Indonesia launched its first nationwide real-time payments network, BI-FAST. The infrastructure was implemented in less than six months. The country’s central bank requests that the country’s financial institutions adopt and implement the infrastructure.
- With real-time transactions set to rise to $1.6bn in 2026 – net savings for consumers and businesses are forecast to climb to $222m, helping to generate an additional $747 million of economic output, equivalent to 0.05 % of the country’s forecasted GDP.
What were the stakeholder thoughts on the study?
The report showed APAC as a prime driver for real-time payments growth and adoption, with many operating mature schemes. However, much of the success has been built on a surge in national, low-value transactions. As high growth rates flatten, nations are set to move up the value chain to explore and expand growth opportunities beyond their own shores.
“Asia-Pacific remains at the forefront of real-time payments innovation as its real-time base pivots towards larger volume transactions and more sophisticated services for our businesses and consumers,” said Leslie Choo, Head of Asia-Pacific, ACI Worldwide.
“The next stage of evolution for the region is to develop linkages to provide a truly pan-regional real-time infrastructure, unlocking much greater economic benefit and opening up the formal financial sector to the region’s vast unbanked and underbanked population.”
“Real-time transactions and growth forecasts continue to rise, with countries like India leading the way and outpacing developed nations. Gov’ts that enable real-time schemes are driving economic growth and prosperity by providing consumers and businesses with faster, and more efficient payment methods,” said Jeremy Wilmot, CPO, ACI Worldwide.
“By allowing for the transfer of money between parties within seconds rather than days, real-time payments improve overall market efficiencies in the economy,” commented Owen Good, Head of Advisory, Centre for Economic and Business Research.
“Real-time payments improve liquidity in the financial system and therefore function as a catalyst for economic growth. This is important for our fast-paced and digital-led gig economies. Workers are paid quickly, allowing them to better plan their finances. Businesses have more flexibility and reduce the need for burdensome cashflow management.”
“Developing nations drive the majority of real-time volume gains, confirming the industry trend of the strongest growth coming from nations with minimal existing electronic payments infrastructure, and heavier reliance on cash,” said Sam Murrant, Lead Analyst, GlobalData.
“Amid all this activity, mobile in its multiple forms will shape the trajectory of real-time payments for developing markets. India provides the template for mobile wallet integration with underlying real-time payment systems. Mobile will still be the leading form factor in developed markets. However, we may see banks’ involvement sitting more behind wallets.”
How did the rest of the globe fare?
Prime Time Real Time Report 2022 – All Global Figures-at-a-Glance
GlobalData – Real-Time Payments Growth:
| 2021 | 2026 | ||||||||
| Real-time transactions made globally | 118.3 billion | 427.7 billion | YoY growth 64.5% | ||||||
| 2021 | |||||||||
| Five countries with the highest volume of real-time payment transactions | India 48.6 billion |
China 18.5 billion |
Thailand 9.7 billion |
Brazil 8.7 billion |
South Korea 7.4 billion |
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| CAGR 2021 – 2026 | |||||||||
| Top 5 fastest growing real-time markets (where instant payments share of all electronic payments was 10% in 2021) | Brazil 56.8% |
Oman 41.0% |
India 33.5% |
Philippines 31.7% |
Malaysia 26.9% |
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| Top fastest growth of real-time transactions by regions | South & Central America 51.3% |
Middle East, Africa & South Asia 32.6% |
North America 30.2% |
Europe 23.0% |
Asia-Pacific 15.0% |
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Cebr Real-Time Economic Impact:
| 2021 | 2026 | |
| Aggregated net savings for consumers and businesses facilitated by real-time payments across the 30 countries observed | US$46.6 billion | US$184.0 billion |
| Formal GDP facilitated by real-time payments | US$78.4 billion (equivalent to 0.10% of the combined GDP of the 30 countries) |
US$173.0 billion (equivalent to 0.19% of the combined forecasted GDP of the 30 countries) |
| Global number of jobs required to produce an equivalent level of output | 4.9 million jobs | 10.3 million jobs |
| India, Brazil, China, Thailand, South Korea – business and consumer level benefits | US$37.0 billion combined | US$164.6 billion combined |
| India, Brazil, China, Thailand, South Korea – formal GDP supported by real-time: | US$54.6 billion
(Equivalent to 0.23% of the combined GDP of the five countries, or the equivalent output of 4.2 million workers) |
US$131.7 billion (Equivalent to 0.43% of the combined forecasted GDP of the five countries, or the equivalent output of 9.0 million workers) |
| U.S., Canada, U.K., France, Germany – business and consumer level benefits | US$2.1 billion combined | US$5.5 billion combined |
| U.S., Canada, U.K., France, Germany – formal GDP supported by real-time: | 7.3 billion (Equivalent to 0.02% of the combined GDP of the five countries, or the equivalent output of 70.4 million workers) |
13.9 billion (Equivalent to 0.04% of the combined forecasted GDP of the five countries, or the equivalent output of 118.9 million workers) |
GlobalData – Consumer Payments Modernization:
| 2021 | |
| Over half of consumers worldwide now own and use a mobile wallet: | 52.7 1%
up 12.1% in the two years since 2019 (Covid-19 impact), and up 33.8% since 2018 |
GlobalData – Fraud Trends
| 2020 | 2021 | |
| Cases of card details being stolen online are falling – 2021 saw a slight decrease in cases | 17.5% | 16.9% |
| Cases of card details being stolen or skimmed in person are also falling – 2021 saw a decrease in cases | 15.5% | 0.5% |
| Digital wallet account hacks, identity theft and social engineering cases are rising. Percentage of total fraud cases: | 2020 | 2021 |
| Digital wallet account hacks | 6.2% | 7.3% |
| Identity theft | 11.6% | 12.0% |
| Social engineering | 13.7% | 14.4% |
