November 29, 2023

Southeast Asia is “supercharged” to power a shift toward digital payments and other innovations in digital services, thanks to an acceleration in digital transformation during the pandemic, said accounting and consulting firm PwC.

Widespread mobile ownership, together with rapid digitalization after the pandemic, helped spur the expansion of digital financial services in Southeast Asia, said PwC. The region is made up of Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Brunei, Laos and Cambodia.

Some examples include Thailand’s PromptPay, which enables bank account users to receive and send payments via national IDs, mobile numbers or email addresses. In the Philippines, the government distributed Covid-19 financial aid via digital platforms, while Singapore encourages and incentivizes hawkers to adopt contactless QR code payment services.

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