Asia pacific

Better Than Cash Alliance lauds India’s push for digital payments, Aadhaar

In India, digital payments are changing the game for women entrepreneurs

This blog post was originally published in the Huffington Post

Indonesia joins our Alliance

By joining our global partnership, Indonesia is committed to accelerating the transition from cash to digital payments and has encouraged fellow APEC countries to follow suit.

The Role of Digital Payments in Sustainable Agriculture and Food Security

Finance Ministers of the economies of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) endorsed the new Better Than Cash Alliance report on the role of digital payments in sustainable agriculture on 21st October, in Viet Nam.

India’s digital future

India was already on a path to growth, but the country’s drive toward digitization may put it on track to be the world’s fastest growing economy over the next decade. Buoyed by demographics,…

Decoding digital impact: A $45 billion opportunity in FMCG

The influence of digital in FMCG is often understated—India is severely lagging behind in digital spends despite a massive online population. By 2020, approximately $45 billion of the FMCG s…

Bringing E-money to the Poor: Successes and Failures

This report examines the successful lessons from Kenya, South Africa, Sri Lanka, and Thailand case studies of “gazelles", that leapt from limitation to innovation by successfully enabling the deployment of e-money technology.

China Breakthroughs: Pay it forward on cashless society

China cashing out as mobile payment soars (The Business Times)

China cashing out as mobile payment soars (AFP)

Digital Planet 2017: How Competitiveness and Trust in Digital Economies Vary Across the World

Today, over half of the world population lives in cities. By 2050, this number will increase to two-thirds. In this context, this study looks at the net benefits associated with adopting digital payments at the city-level.

Accelerating Financial Inclusion in South-East Asia with Digital Finance

Focussing on women, and micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), the paper highlights that digital financial solutions could play a significant part in closing gaps in financial inclusion and povides insights from Indonesia, Philippines, Cambodia, and Myanmar.

In China, a Store of the Future—No Checkout, No Staff

Alipay, WeChat Near $3 Trillion

Social Networks, e-Commerce Platforms, and the Growth of Digital Payment Ecosystems in China: What it Means for Other Countries

This report examines two of China’s most far-reaching applications – WeChat and Alipay – and explores their role in the development of one of the world’s largest and most sophisticated digital payments ecosystems.

UN report: Social network payments now reach nearly US $3 trillion in China

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Digitizing Wage Payments in Bangladesh’s Garment Production Sector

This report is the first of its kind to document key data points on the costs and benefits of wage digitization from a factory perspective.

Why Women Workers and Managers Prefer Electronic Wage Payments in Bangladesh

Payday can be an ordeal for women garment workers in Bangladesh. Often, they must wait in long lines, carry wads of cash through crowded streets, or encounter a mother-in-law demanding money…

Mobile payments and financial inclusion: Kenya, Brazil, and India as Case Studies

This paper considers the impact of the regulatory environment on mobile payments as a channel for delivering inclusive financial services using Kenya, Brazil and India as case studies.

Country Diagnostic: Bangladesh

This Diagnostic Report shows Bangladesh is making significant strides toward a digital economy, and outlines specific policy measures that can underpin further digitization of payments into the future.