Payments in SEA to Reach $53 Trillion by 2027, Predicts Robocash Group

A report by Robocash Group analysts says the total volume of payments in Southeast Asia (SEA) will increase by 86 percent to $53.9 trillion by 2027. Robocash said in an August 16 statement that Vietnam and Indonesia will contribute the most to this figure.

According to the statement, Vietnam is expected to grow the most, by 152 percent to $21.5 trillion, surpassing Indonesia, which is expected to grow by $18.3 trillion. In these terms, Singapore will be the second fastest-growing country. Its payment volumes will increase by 68 percent to $1.7 trillion by 2027. Analysts considered payments made with bank cards, bank transfers, electronic money, and cash.

According to Robocash, the total amount of payments made in the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Thailand by physical and legal entities in 2022 will be $29 trillion, which is two times more than in the previous decade.

This figure is higher than the GDP of the United States or China and is also comparable to 29 percent of total global GDP in 2022.

According to the group's analysts, one of the reasons for the recent rapid growth in SEA payment transactions is the boost in digital technologies caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. According to the analysts, the amount of payments in SEA increased by 45 percent between 2020 and 2022.

They also mentioned the state's strong support. "Each country in the region has its own national digitization programmes, which include the digitization of payments," they explained.

They also stated that by 2022, the total volume of private domestic and foreign investments in Southeast Asia's fintech payment infrastructure would be around $60 billion. They emphasised that $26.5 billion of this total was invested between 2021 and 2022.