Weekly News Insight: Facebook Joins Other Mobile Payment Apps
Shop in digital way, and consumers now also want to pay in digital way.
Mobile payment is a thing in Asia. Penetration is growing fast across the continent and even is starting to mature in China.
A lot of the region’s states have never been a big fan of the credit card. And it seems they’ll never be.
Exciting progress in smartphone ownership, together with a low barrier of entry for customers, enable mobile payment platforms to garnered the bulk of users fortnight. So who needs the credit card anyway?
The unique development is also revealing the truth: investing in mobile payment is a must-do for a successful e-commerce campaign.
Take a look at our highlights on each major economy’s e-wallet development and how e-commerce sellers could benefit from it.
China the Pioneer
When it comes to mobile payment, China is the holy Mecca. With 47% of the population paying through online means, the e-wallet penetration is easily the highest in the world.
From the high-end shopping mall to the humble street vendor, WeChat Pay and AliPay are the norms.
Both platforms didn’t start their business from financial services. Yet its large mass base enabled their mobile payment apps to thrive, and subsequentially, their online sales.
Alibaba is an e-commerce platform and was at the time struggling with China’s lack of online payment methods as many Chinese lacked access to credit or debit cards. The presence of the mobile payment app clearly boosts internet shopping and Alibaba’s profit.
Meanwhile, WeChat started as a chatting app. It initially used its e-wallet service to boost the sale of its in-platform games. As for today, it expanded to e-commerce too. Brands could set up a storefront with WeChat’s mini-app. Customers who want to check out could simply pay with their WeChatPay.
Skyrocketing India
In terms of market penetration, mobile payment in India still lags behind China. Only 15% of the retail transactions are paid with mobile payment.
However, the 560 million internet users of India guarantee the high potential of India’s market. And its mobile payment is already the fastest growing.
Several big names have invested in India. Amazon Pay, Whatsapp Pay, PhonePe (Walmart), Paytm (Alibaba), and Google Pay are among them.
Amidst 80% of the population having at least a bank account, only half of the accounts are active. This means mobile payment has a good chance of powering transactions in the fast-growing e-commerce sector.
Two major players of India’s e-commerce market, Amazon and Flipkart (Walmart) have their own e-wallet apps. They are surely to benefit most from Indians’ adoption of mobile payment.
Indonesia
The country smartphone and internet penetration, 40% and 32.3% respectively, are far from ideal. Yet rapid growth in both, coupling with stable economic expansion, and fervor for online shopping boost Indonesia’s mobile payment adoption at an incredible growth rate of 33% per year.
The most used e-wallet app, GoPay, is backed by the country’s ride-hailing decacorn, Gojek. The large consumer base of the app enables them to convert those consumers to be mobile payment users.
Meanwhile, GoPay closest rival, Ovo, cooperates with the country’s e-commerce unicorn Tokopedia to expand its user base. Ovo also boasts a partnership with the country’s largest airlines, Lion Air Group, to promote its service.
Taiwan
Debit and credit cards’ high penetration on the island might be the reason why conversion to mobile payment isn’t as fast. Yet, given Taiwan’s excellent infrastructure and smartphone usage, growth in the sector is expectable. Beside’s, the government has exercised a series of measures in order to reach 90% mobile payment penetration in 2025.
Line Pay, Apple Pay, and Taiwan-based Jko-Pay are the major players, implementing different strategies. Line Pay focus on cooperating with big businesses, while Apple targets online payment and Jko-pay partners with many medium and small enterprises.
Our Take
Mobile payment is growing everywhere, from high electronic card usage rate regions like Taiwan, but especially in the developing countries wanting online payment methods.
Besides for improvement in security, mobile payment is expected to grow rapidly due to more and more people shopping through their mobile phones. The convenience of mobile payment deems them suitable for this kind of purchase.
Brands should follow the trend and make the mobile payment method available on their online platforms. The ease of paying with the e-wallet service would lower down the cost of shopping online for consumers and thus increase sales.
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