Real‑time cashless systems expand across Asia Pacific, yet uneven regulation, fraud, and infrastructure gaps challenge trust and scalability.
In the Asia Pacific region (APAC), driven by ongoing growth in digital-first services, mobile adoption, and real-time payment systems, is expected to fuel continued rises in cashless transaction volumes.
However, regulatory fragmentation, infrastructure gaps, and evolving fraud risks can still give rise to strong but uneven development of demand and supply for cashless, zero touch transactions.
What truly differentiates the region is the diversity of adoption models. Markets such as China, India and South-east Asia have leapfrogged card-centric ecosystems, embracing QR codes, wallets and account-to-account payments at scale.
In contrast, other regions are still transitioning from card-dominant systems toward real-time payments, according to Lucy Anderson, Vice President of Products (Asia Pacific), Global Payments. Here are some insights for 2026 that she shared with DigiconAsia.net.
DigiconAsia: How are growing transaction volumes and fragmented national systems shaping the development of real-time payments and cross-border interoperability in APAC?
Lucy Anderson (LA): Globally, expectations have shifted towards instant, transparent fund transfers, placing sustained pressure on payment infrastructure to operate continuously and handle peak volumes without failure.
In APAC, interoperability remains constrained by differences in domestic payment systems, regulatory frameworks, and currencies.
Some progress is visible through cross-border linkages between national real-time systems, but these integrations are still limited in scope. Further development is likely to focus on improving settlement efficiency, and creating more consistent cross-border user experiences.
DigiconAsia: What are the key fraud and security challenges emerging in APAC’s real-time payments environment?
LA: Fraud risks are increasing alongside transaction volumes, particularly in real-time systems where recovery options are limited. Common threats include social engineering scams, account takeovers, mule account networks, and authorized push payment fraud.
Addressing these risks requires moving beyond static, rules-based controls towards real-time risk assessment and behavioral analysis. (Editor’s note: Total restriction of access to cash is considered by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development to be a risk.)
Measures such as anomaly detection, network-level monitoring, and targeted user alerts can reduce exposure, though they introduce trade-offs between security, social concerns, and user experience.
DigiconAsia: How is AI influencing payment systems and user experience in APAC?
LA: AI is being applied globally across both operational and customer-facing functions, including fraud detection, transaction routing, and support automation.
In APAC, it may also help reduce onboarding and operational complexity for small and medium-sized enterprises, particularly in markets with varying levels of digital literacy. However, its primary role remains incremental: improving efficiency and reducing friction, rather than fundamentally transforming payment experiences.
Outcomes depend heavily on data quality, regulatory constraints, and implementation maturity.
DigiconAsia: How do varying regulatory approaches across APAC influence the pace and direction of payment innovation, including developments such as Central Bank Digital Currencies?
LA: Regulatory fragmentation across APAC continues to limit the scalability of payment solutions, requiring adaptation to local compliance, data governance, and supervisory expectations.
Emerging models such as open banking and embedded finance depend on regulatory alignment and trust, which remain uneven across the region.
Central bank digital currencies are unlikely to replace existing payment systems in the near term, but may support specific use cases, including cross-border settlement and government-related transactions.
Editor’s note: Academic and policy analyses highlight some controversies around CBDCs, including risks related to privacy, surveillance, programmable money, and centralized control over digital transactions.
DigiconAsia thanks Lucy Anderson for sharing her professional insights with our readers.
