Whether you’re wishing to expand your business into Asia or are based in the region and looking for technological solutions that will attract new customers, selecting a digital payment gateway is one of the most important choices you can make.
Even if you are a consumer looking for ways to make your life easier, knowing what the most popular and efficient payment platforms in the region are is hugely important.
While in the west, Silicon Valley platforms such as PayPal reign supreme, it is a different story across virtually all of Asia’s biggest economies. With that in mind, here is our review of the top online payment platforms in Asia in 2020.
1. AliPay
Although AliPay is largely used in China only, it has one of the largest customer bases out of any digital payment gateway in the world. The Chinese media platform Xinhua estimates that 1.2 billion people now use AliPay on a regular basis, with close to a billion of those people being located in China. Although it is designed to handle payments mostly in RMB, AliPay offers free and instant currency conversion for 12 major currencies, including US Dollars, Euros, and the British Pound. The software uses a simple QR code method that allows for instant in-app payments by scanning a product’s QR code. That’s why you will find QR codes plastered across food trucks, market stalls, and vending machines across China.
2. WeChat
Another major Chinese tech platform, WeChat is China’s premier social messaging app, with 1.15 billion monthly users around the world. As well as offering social media profiles, news feeds, business advertising, and public transport passes, this all-in-one app also houses one of Asia’s most popular digital payment gateways. WeChat Pay, which allows for instant mobile QR code payments in the same way that AliPay does, can be used by any business that sets up a WeChat Shop account, allowing all WeChat users around the world to pay for their goods and services within the app.
3. EcoPayz
EcoPayz has been in operation since the early 2000s and is a popular online payment gateway in countries such as Malaysia, Thailand, and India. In fact, EcoPayz is so popular in India that it is even listed as one of the most popular ways for Indians to make deposits and withdraw winnings at online casinos. This might be because EcoPayz utilizes end-to-end SSL encryption and two-factor authentication, making it ideal for users who are looking for online security and total discretion. As India’s online casino market grows, expect EcoPayz to grow with it.
4. AsiaPay
AsiaPay is a billion-dollar tech platform currently based in Hong Kong that has a heavy focus on the Asia-Pacific region, with its main user base being concentrated in China, Indonesia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam. Despite this relatively local focus, AsiaPay offers its services in 145 currencies and dozens of languages, demonstrating that this is a company with global ambitions. It also allows for offline payments, which is something that few other major payment gateways can do at the moment, as well as in-depth payment analysis for both business users and individuals.
5. Red Dot Payment
This up-and-coming payment gateway that is based in Singapore offers a kind of umbrella service, connecting vendors with customers even if those vendors do not offer the same payment options that a user might prefer. Let’s say a customer wants to pay for something using AliPay, but the store only accepts EcoPayz. If the store owner is a Red Dot subscriber, then they have nothing to worry about, as Red Dot can reroute the payment from the user’s app through its own servers so that the vendor can accept it with whatever payment gateway they might have. It’s an innovative concept that could have transformative effects on the commerce landscape.
6. Doku Wallet
Billed as Indonesia’s first-ever payments technology company, Doku Wallet now has 3 million users across the country and is by far the largest market player in Indonesia. Their mission is to ensure that you don’t need the latest iPhone in order to access instant and secure electronic payment gateways. This is certainly a useful mission to have in a country where smartphone penetration is estimated to be as low at 40%. By creating a payment gateway that works on even the most basic devices, Doku Wallet is bringing fast, safe, and secure electronic payments to millions.
7. Mint
Mint Payments is actually an Australian company that has enjoyed immense popularity there and is now trying its best to expand into other Asia-Pacific markets. So far, its biggest success has been in Vietnam, where it has rapidly emerged to become one of the biggest market players among a tech-savvy population of 95 million people. Mint offers services for vendors and customers, with some of the lowest fees around, airtight SSL encryption throughout its site, and a reputation for user-friendliness, making it a formidable competitor on this list.
These are the best payment gateways in Asia right now.
