Deloitte released a report at the Bund Conference: It is expected that mobile consumption in Asia will more than triple by 2025 compared to 2019

This morning, Deloitte released a report titled "The Next Wave: Brilliant Digital Life in ASEAN and South Asia" at the Bund Conference.

The report pointed out that in Asia, facing the far-leading advantages of China, Japan and South Korea in the development of the digital economy, ASEAN and South Asian countries are unwilling to lag behind, and have introduced supporting and promoting policies to catch up, competing to develop the digital economy with digital payment as the starting point; at the same time, the epidemic has increased the penetration rate of digital life services in these regions, further promoting the development of the digital economy in ASEAN and South Asian countries.

Through research, the report found that digital payment is the core of digital life. After the epidemic, 78% of consumers in ASEAN and South Asia increased their use of digital services. Online shopping, friend transfers and offline retail payments have become the three most common application scenarios for digital payments. Respondents said that the main reasons for using digital payment include faster and more convenient, safer without touching paper money, and electronic consumer vouchers and discounts.

During the epidemic, whether ordering takeout at home or paying with Alipay on mobile phones, the digital lifestyle based on contactless services has spread rapidly from countries with relatively developed digital economies such as China, Japan, and South Korea to traditionally less developed countries and regions such as ASEAN and South Asia. Contactless services based on digital payments have changed the traditional habit of the population in these countries to use cash.

At the same time, e-wallets in ASEAN and South Asia have also established cooperation with leading mobile payment companies in China, Japan, South Korea and other countries, such as Alipay and Kakao Pay. By imitating the advanced experience of these countries in the field of digital payment, they have quickly established their own digital payment apps and actively participated in the fight against the epidemic in accordance with local conditions. For example, the largest local e-wallets such as Malaysia's Alipay Touch'n Go, Thailand's TrueMoney, and the Philippines' GCash have carried out contactless donations through their own platforms, raising a total of more than US$600,000 in donations, and purchased food and protective supplies such as masks for local vulnerable groups through charity organizations. Pakistan's Easypaisa and Bangladesh's bKash have both launched the function of contactless subsidy distribution by local governments to help low-income people get through the difficulties.

Through surveys of respondents in the region, the report also found that although digital payments in ASEAN and South Asian countries are still in the early stages of development, they have broad room for development. First, there are many young people: the population under 40 years old in ASEAN and South Asia accounts for as high as 65.4% and 70.2%, while the corresponding data in Europe and North America are 46.8% and 52.1%; second, the potential for digital inclusion is huge. Among the nearly 400 million adults in ASEAN, nearly half of them do not have bank accounts; and in terms of the penetration rate of mobile Internet, Asia has the best foundation, with 2/3 of the population using mobile services. Based on this, Deloitte predicts that by 2025, mobile consumption in Asia will more than triple compared to 2019.