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Global Payments has published findings showing that digital wallets have overtaken cards in Hong Kong, reflecting a broader shift across Asia toward less visible payment experiences.
The findings come from the company's 11th annual Global Payments Report, which surveyed 42 major markets representing 89% of global GDP. Global Payments also held a panel discussion with executives from Visa Asia, Panda Remit, Clockenflap Music and Arts Festival, and Snap Fitness on how consumer expectations are changing in the region.
Hong Kong stood out as a market where cards lost their leading position this year. Digital wallets accounted for 41% of eCommerce transaction value and 45% of point-of-sale transaction value, putting them five percentage points ahead of cards in both categories.
Account-to-account payments are also gaining ground in the territory. Supported by the Faster Payment System, they are expected to reach 23% of eCommerce value and 13% of point-of-sale value by 2030.
Singapore is following a similar path, though at a slower pace, with digital wallets close behind cards as consumers' preferred payment method.
Regional shifts
Across Asia, the report identified broader changes in how consumers pay, particularly in shops. In-store payment app value is forecast to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 8% through 2030, about 135% faster than the wider point-of-sale market.
The trend points to continued cashless adoption, though the picture remains uneven across borders. Consumers still face friction when spending abroad, despite wider use of digital tools at home.
Several payment networks and systems are trying to address that gap. Project Nexus is working on QR code interoperability across ASEAN, while Brazil's Pix and India's UPI are expanding beyond their domestic markets.
Digital wallets are now widely used, but their funding sources vary by geography. Cards remain a common funding source in markets such as the US, UK, and Australia, while real-time payment rails and bank accounts play a bigger role across Southeast Asia.
Buy now, pay later has settled into a smaller share of the market than early advocates predicted. It accounts for 4% of global eCommerce value in 2025 and is forecast to reach about 5% by 2030.
Crypto, meanwhile, remains marginal in day-to-day consumer spending. Direct consumer spend is still under 0.19% of transaction value, while growth in stablecoin-linked card spending is being driven mainly by business-to-business transactions rather than retail use.
Trust and transparency
Much of the panel discussion focused on cross-border payments, where consumers increasingly treat speed and convenience as standard rather than differentiators. Executives argued that trust, transparency, and reliability matter more than simply adding more payment choices.
Ken Zheng, Chief Executive Officer of Panda Remit, said customers now want clearer pricing alongside low costs and fast processing. "Customers still want cost-effective pricing, convenience and speed, but now expect to know where every cent goes rather than have it disappear into vaguely packaged hidden fees," Zheng said.
That demand is especially visible in remittances, where users move money across borders for family support, travel, and business activity. Instant payment systems can help by making fees and timing easier to understand, while also relying on real-time fraud checks.
For merchants, the issue is increasingly commercial. Cross-border travel has returned as an important source of spending, and businesses serving visitors are under pressure to make payments feel simple regardless of where a customer comes from.
Pete Gordon, Chief Product Officer of Clockenflap Music and Arts Festival, described how the Hong Kong event operates on a cashless point-of-sale application while also supporting a "demographically relevant" ticket sales channel.
The same pressures apply to companies operating across several countries. Danny Diab, Managing Director of Fitness Brands Limited, said a payment setup that connects local schemes across markets has become a "moat" for a business serving a multi-market, multi-currency client base.
Adeline Kim, Group Country Manager for SG, MY & TH and SVP Global Clients and Acquirers Asia at Visa, argued that Asia's lead in newer payment behaviours is rooted in practical consumer choices. Consumers in the region have tended to adopt payment methods that offer clear value, pushing banks, fintech groups, and governments to keep introducing alternatives.
For merchants, the broader lesson is that payment systems are becoming less visible to consumers and more strategic for businesses. As settlement becomes faster and payment methods fade further into the background, the competitive question is shifting from breadth of choice to whether security and reliability are strong enough that the transaction does not draw attention at all.