China is the largest contributor to the global payments industry with a share of almost **% in 2018, followed by the U.S., Japan, the UK and Germany. What is particularly interesting is that the country was at par with the U.S. as recently as 2012. However, exponential growth in debit and credit card usage along with the emergence of a large ecosystem of players such as Alipay and WeChat Pay and strong government policies and support, has catapulted China to the forefront of the payments market worldwide. Mobile payments have particularly witnessed strong growth with its market share increasing from just ***% in 2011 to a staggering **% in 2018. The rapid growth of e-Commerce, high smartphone penetration, the relatively low growth of other payment channels such as credit cards, and the integrated mobile payment services offered by China’s big Internet companies such as Tencent and Alibaba, are some of the key factors driving the market.

The number of cashless payments across the world is forecast to nearly double between 2024 and 2028, as more countries transition into real-time payments. This was the conclusion reached by Capgemini, the source behind the figures shown. It states that the overall market share of debit and credit cards will stake up more than **** of digital payment transactions by 2027. However, it puts significant emphasis on the potential market size of real-time payments as consumers increasingly find transaction speed to be essential. As of 2022, India and Brazil are the main countries for such instant payments.

The market for payment gateways was nearly four times larger in the United States than in other parts of the world, according to a data model for 2023. Note that only certain individual countries had figures available to them. No figures were provided, for example, on Indonesia, Hong Kong, Nigeria, or Australia. Payment gateways refer to services such as Stripe, Braintree, Adyen, Square, or Worldpay. These are financial services that give merchants access to various digital payment methods on their platform, such as Visa but also Apple Pay or local payment options found within a country. Such services are also increasingly attracting interest within fintech as they have options to automatically charge customers for transactions on a consistent basis. These subscription-style payments, often referred to as "recurring billing", are a potential option to help reinforce customer loyalty alongside popular options like cash back.

In 2024, Indonesia is estimated to have the highest digital payment transaction value in Southeast Asia, followed by Vietnam and the Philippines. In comparison, Singapore has the highest per capita digital transactions value in Southeast Asia.

The use of credit cards varied significantly within Europe, with Poland or Germany barely using them whilst their market share was over 20 percent in France. This is somewhat at odds with figures on credit card penetration in the world. The United Kingdom, for example, ranks as one of the top countries worldwide in terms of credit card ownership, and also ranks high in this particular overview. France, however, had a significantly lower credit card penetration, but outranks the UK in terms of market share for credit cards. This may be a consequence of the different card schemes that exist within Europe's payment landscape. France has a domestic scheme - unique to that country alone - that is co-branded with Visa, enabling both credit card and debit card payments.

In 2024, Singapore is estimated to have the highest average transaction value per user of digital commerce in Southeast Asia. Singapore is also estimated to have the highest average transaction value in the mobile point of sales (POS) payments segment.

In 2024, Hong Kong was estimated to have the highest average transaction value per user of digital commerce and mobile POS payments in the Asia Pacific region, with a value of approximately 9,440 U.S. dollars and 19,340 U.S. dollars, respectively. In comparison, India was estimated to have the average transaction value per user of around 860 U.S. dollars in the digital commerce segment and around 1,760 U.S. dollars in the mobile POS payment segment.

Sending remittances to Bulgaria was almost five times more expensive in the first quarter of 2024 than to other countries in Europe, such as Croatia or Lithuania. This is according to an average taken from different situations in which consumers send money worth 200 U.S. dollars from one country to the next - including cash, MTOs (money transfer organizations) or cards. The average cost of sending 200 U.S. dollars to Bulgaria is 20.82%.

In 2024, the gross transaction value (GTV) of digital payments in Indonesia amounted to 404 billion U.S. dollars. In comparison, the GTV of digital payments in the Philippines was 125 billion U.S. dollars in 2024.

In 2024, China was estimated to have the highest digital payment transaction value in the Asia-Pacific region, with transaction value of the mobile POS payments and digital commerce segments reaching approximately 5.3 trillion and 3.2 trillion U.S. dollars respectively. In comparison, the transaction value of digital payments in New Zealand that year was estimated at 13 billion U.S. dollars.

The number of credit cards in Turkey was roughly 50 percent higher than in the United Kingdom, according to a country comparison. All figures provided here are estimates, as they have been gathered from various sources and often cover different years. There is no central tracking for credit cards in the European continent. Reports on the topic can also vary between countries, with a country like Germany reporting on various types of cards as opposed to a country like Moldova. That said, the number of credit cards in circulation was relatively low in Europe. Credit cards were popular in European countries that relied on cross-border e-commerce.

A2A payments in Asia-Pacific are to stay at a similar level for the region, although Thailand's 44 percent market share was different from China's two percent. This is according to a market model that was repeated over several years for different individual countries across Europe. Surprisingly perhaps to some, India's UPI was not part of this list. The world's biggest brand in terms of real-time (instant) payments allows for account-to-account payments - which essentially bank account transfer payments - but this is a small part of the infrastructure. Most UPI payments involve wallets, such as Google Pay. Countries that use A2A much more often are typically found in Southeast Asia.

In 2020, transactions in digital payments in China were valued at a staggering ***** billion U.S. dollars. China was the largest market in terms of digital payments in the Asia Pacific region. In comparison, the value of transactions in digital payments was *** billion U.S. dollars in Vietnam in 2020.

The value of outgoing personal remittances sent from Europe increased by more than 10 percent between 2020 and 2021, the largest increase since 2017. This is according to estimates made by the World Bank on data from the IMF that tracked the balance of payments between countries. All figures provided here have been summed from this individual country's data. The source adds that "personal remittances" consist of both personal transfers between resident and nonresident individuals, as well as the compensation of employees. By definition, then, the numbers shown here focus on migrant workers, although it should be noted that remittances consist of more than that. Consumers with a second home abroad but who receive pensions from their country of origin can sometimes also be counted as remittances.

Remittances sent to Europe went largely towards France and Germany in 2021, with each country receiving at least 20 billion billions worth of dollars. This is according to a database that tries to model money sent internationally from one party to another. Remittances typically refer to money sent from migrant workers back home to family and friends, although there are other forms of this. Remittances can, for example, include pensioners who have a second home in foreign country. Nevertheless, Asia Pacific - not Europe - is often referred to as the main receiver of remittances.

In 2023, the transaction value of real-time payments (RTP) in Thailand amounted to approximately 1.37 trillion U.S. dollars. In comparison, the transaction value of RTP in Vietnam amounted to around 216.4 billion U.S. dollars in 2023.

As of June 2020, ** percent of internet purchases made in Argentina were paid for using digital payment methods. In Colombia, that share amounted to ** percent. The sudden COVID-19 outbreak led to a change in online transactions in Argentina, significantly increasing supermarkets-related e-payments in the South American country.

According to a survey from 2021, the adoption rate of cashless payments in Southeast Asia was ** percent. Singapore had the highest adoption rate of ** percent in Southeast Asia, while the adoption rate was ** percent in Cambodia in 2021.

In 2023, more than eight out of ten online shoppers in Austria made cross-border purchases. Belgium and Spain followed, with 80 percent and 76 percent of e-commerce users shopping on international sites.

Digital or mobile wallet payments dominated e-commerce and point-of-sale (POS) transactions in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region in 2024, with China leading the charge. In China, digital or mobile wallet payments accounted for almost 85 percent of the e-commerce transaction value and around 70 percent of the POS payment value. In Malaysia, digital wallets represented around 25 percent of e-commerce and 29 percent of POS payments in the same year. Rapid adoption of digital wallets Digital wallets are becoming the primary payment method for e-commerce in APAC, with a 74 percent share of the e-commerce transaction value in 2024. In Southeast Asia, mobile wallets have emerged as a highly adopted e-commerce payment method, currently accounting for around 25 percent of its total e-commerce transaction value. Mobile wallet user bases in Southeast Asian economies are expanding rapidly. In Indonesia alone, the number of wallet users has surpassed 125 million. This surge is largely driven by the convenience, speed, and ease of use these payment solutions offer, making them the preferred method in many Asian countries. Varied payment landscapes across countries
While digital wallets are gaining traction, traditional payment methods still hold a significant market share in some APAC countries. In Japan and South Korea, credit cards remained dominant for both e-commerce and POS transactions in 2024. More than half of the e-commerce transaction value in these two countries were attributable to credit cards. New Zealand and Australia present a different payment trend, with debit cards maintaining a significant market share. Debit cards made up around 23 percent of e-commerce and 41 percent of POS payment value in New Zealand, and approximately 20 percent and 38 percent, respectively, for Australia. Notably, Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) services are making inroads in both countries, accounting for more than 13 percent share of e-commerce payment value in 2024, significantly higher than in other Asian markets.