THE Philippines logged the highest percentage of new digital payment users at 37 percent among Asia Pacific (Apac) respondents during the Covid-19 pandemic, according to Kaspersky’s recent study.
Titled “Mapping a secure path for the future of digital payments in Apac,” research from Kaspersky reveals e-wallet and mobile banking adoption trailed closely behind cash use in the region.
“Data from our fresh research showed that cash is still king, at least for now, in Apac with 70 percent of the respondents still using physical notes for their day-to-day transactions," Chris Connell, managing director for Asia Pacific at Kaspersky, said.
However, mobile payment and mobile banking applications are not far behind with 58 percent, and 52 percent users utilizing these platforms at least once a week up to more than once a day for their finance-related tasks, he added.
Connell said from these solid statistics, they can infer that the pandemic has triggered more people to dip their toes into the digital economy, which may fully dethrone cash use here in the next three to five years.
One of its key findings showed that a great majority (90 percent) of the Asian respondents has used mobile payment apps at least once in the past 12 months, confirming the fintech boom in the region.
Nearly two in 10 (15 percent) of which only started using these platforms after the pandemic.
The Philippines logged the highest percentage of new e-cash adopters at 37 percent, followed by India (23 percent), Australia (15 percent), Vietnam (14 percent), Indonesia (13 percent), and Thailand (13 percent). The lowest number of first-time online payment users are China (five percent), South Korea (nine percent), and Malaysia (nine percent).
The report said China has been a notable leader in mobile payments in Apac.
Even before the pandemic, its top local platforms, Alipay and WeChat Pay, have witnessed significant mass adoption and served as an example to follow for other Asian countries, Kaspersky said. (JOB)