APAC Dominates The World in Digital Wallets & E-Commerce—The Future Is Now
Cards are being left in the dust globally
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APAC is dominating the world not only in e-commerce payments made with digital wallets at 70% of the region’s total but also in total e-commerce revenue at 57% of the global total as cards retreat globally. APAC is showing the West its future.
First, let’s examine Asia’s remarkable share of global e-commerce revenue, which accounts for 57% compared to 20% for North America and 15% for the EU.
So if you live in the EU or the US and think Amazon and e-commerce are a big deal, you haven’t seen anything compared to what e-commerce is doing in APAC.
To gain a better perspective on the significance of these numbers in terms of GDP growth and societal impact, consider the GDP per capita within the US and EU, which are roughly eight times and four times, respectively, the aggregate number for APAC.
So, APAC, with a far lower GDP, accounts for more than half of the world’s e-commerce revenue. While some may attribute part of this population difference, it certainly doesn’t compensate for APAC’s GDP per capita deficit.
Does that tell you how BIG e-commerce is in APAC? E-commerce in APAC is simply beyond the imagination of most Western readers.
Regular readers are not in the least surprised to find APAC leading in digital wallet use as I tout APAC’s lead regularly on these pages. Digital wallets have a 70% market share of e-commerce payments compared to 18% for debit and credit cards combined.
These numbers reveal how significantly cards have lost market share in the APAC region, despite their claims of increased card issuance numbers or higher volumes.
Cards are taking a hammering globally, with debit and credit cards accounting for 34% of the global share, compared to 50% for digital wallets.
So is this the future? Yes, and it’s coming from Asia. E-commerce continues to grow in the West at around 8% per year, with digital wallet growth in the 15-20% range.
What we’re looking at is the West playing catch-up with APAC.
👉Key Digital Wallet and E-Commerce Statistics
🔹 Digital wallets make up half of all digital commerce payments (by value) around the world. These wallets act as an umbrella, bundling multiple payment methods (cards, BNPL, A2A) into one platform.
🔹 Alipay (660mn) and WeChat Pay (550mn) are the world’s no 1 and 2 digital wallets, followed by Apple Pay (507mn) and PayPal (427mn)
🔹 APAC has such stunning numbers in large part due to the successful use of digital wallets in China and India.
🔹 Even in US the world’s largest user of cards digital wallets have taken the lead over debt and credit cards.
🔹 The US remains the largest user of debt and credit cards, with 51% of all e-commmerce payments compared with Latin America coming in a close second at 50%. Even Europe comes in lower at 39%.
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