Local payment methods in Asia-Pacific: 2026 report

This report summary uses illustrative placeholder data. Market shares are estimates for a prototype and should not be cited.

Executive summary

Asia-Pacific is not one payments market. It is a set of very different ones, shaped by national instant payment systems, dominant super-apps, cash-based habits and, in a few places, high card use.

This report covers nine markets: Japan, India, Singapore, Australia, South Korea, Thailand, the Philippines, Malaysia and China. For each, it sets out how shoppers pay online today, which methods to offer first and what each method means for refunds, settlement and reconciliation.

The short version: in most of these markets, a card-only checkout reaches a minority of shoppers. Two or three local methods per market usually close most of the gap.

Key findings

All figures are illustrative.

1. Instant account-to-account payments lead in three markets. In India, Thailand and Singapore, national instant systems (UPI, PromptPay and PayNow) accounted for an estimated 40–60% of online payments in our sample.

2. Wallets lead in four. In China, South Korea, the Philippines and Malaysia, a leading wallet or super-app was the first choice for most shoppers. Examples include Alipay, WeChat Pay, KakaoPay, GCash and GrabPay.

3. Japan still pays in shops. Convenience-store payment through Konbini remained a meaningful share of online orders, alongside cards and PayPay. Orders paid at a store take time to confirm, which affects fulfilment.

4. Australia is card-led. Cards and mobile wallets covered most online spending, with buy now, pay later options common in fashion and beauty.

5. Settlement differs more than checkout. Settlement timing, currency and reporting varied more across methods than the shopper experience did. Finance teams should be part of method selection, not only product teams.

6. Refunds are the weak point. Several QR and wallet methods support only full refunds, or refunds within a fixed window. Sellers with frequent partial refunds need a fallback, such as store credit or a bank transfer.

What to offer first

What's in the full report

The full 36-page report includes:

• Nine market profiles with method shares, typical basket sizes and shopper expectations.
• Method fact sheets covering flow, confirmation time, refund support, chargeback or return mechanisms and settlement.
• Integration notes for asynchronous methods, QR flows and app redirects.
• A prioritisation model for choosing methods based on your traffic and average order value.
• A launch checklist for each market.

Related reading

• Payment methods catalogue
• A field guide to instant payments: Pix, UPI and their neighbours
• Payment Methods product overview