New research by GlobalData shows the APAC e-commerce is projected to grow from $1.6 trillion in 2018 to $2.3 trillion in 2022.

Alternative payment methods, such as mobile and digital wallets, accounted for 51 per cent of total e-commerce transaction value in APAC in the first quarter of 2018. That compares with payments made using cards, bank transfers and cash/cheques, which accounted for 28 per cent, 15 per cent and 6 per cent of APAC e-commerce, respectively.

China is the main driving force behind the trend towards greater take-up of mobile payments, where the popularity of solutions like Alipay and WeChat Pay dominate the market.

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GlobalData senior payments analyst Ravi Sharma says Asian adoption of alternatives payment methods is ahead of the West because card infrastructure is not as entrenched.

“Rising smartphone penetration coupled with a large unbanked population has also turned the region into a potential growth market for alternative payments,” Mr Sharma said.

India is also seeing a major push towards electronic payments largely thanks to a government demonitisation initiative, he said, but stricter KYC rules for digital wallet users led to a decline in 2018.

“With Asian consumers keen to embrace digital payments, rising smartphone penetration and launch of new digital payment solutions are expected to further propel the growth of alternative payments in the region’s e-commerce market,” Mr Sharma said.