What’s next for SE Asia? Connecting fragmented systems for financial inclusion: Amazon

Real-time payments and digital wallets have reshaped South-east Asia’s financial landscape. The region’s digital payments market is projected to grow from nearly US$120 billion (S$155 billion) in 2023 to US$306 billion by 2028, according to the US-based International Data Corporation.

Yet cross-border payments in South-east Asia remain slower, costlier and more complex than they should be, observed Sujit Misra, Amazon’s director of Product Management, Payments for Asia-Pacific, Middle East, North Africa and Turkey.

Millions of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the region also face limited credit access and fragmented payment systems, he added. According to the company, over 60 per cent of sales on Amazon’s platform are from independent sellers globally, most of whom are SMEs.

Regional connections

The challenge now, said Misra, lies in connecting these local payment rails – the infrastructure that powers money transfers. “The barriers today are not technological. They’re institutional.”

Advancing regional interoperability will require regulatory alignment, shared technical frameworks like ISO 20022 – a global and open standard for financial information – and cross-border licensing models that allow payment providers to scale securely, he said. 

Misra pointed to Singapore’s rise as an instant payments leader, enabled by policy, public infrastructure and public-private collaboration. “The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has been instrumental: pioneering PayNow and Fast, and building international corridors like PayNow-UPI with India.”

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Fast, or Fast And Secure Transfers, is the real-time payments system that lets users transfer funds from one bank to another in Singapore. 

The PayNow-UPI linkage connects Singapore’s electronic fund transfer system with India’s Unified Payments Interface, allowing individuals and businesses from both countries to make cross-border transactions quickly at low cost. The PayNow-UPI linkage was launched in 2023.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Banking Computer Services (BCS), a Nets subsidiary, provided the secure, scalable cloud infrastructure underpinning the corridor.

“Our innovation agenda is about stitching local rails into a truly borderless payments fabric,” said Misra, reducing settlement friction and fostering inclusive participation in the global economy.

Local solutions

Beyond regional integration, challenges around digital adoption also persist at the local level. “While we operate at a global scale, we recognise that payments are inherently local,” he said. 

Amazon supports financial literacy and fraud prevention efforts, Misra added. In Singapore, the US tech giant works with Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) under the Digital for Life movement on community workshops to promote digital inclusion.

“Older adults, cash-reliant individuals, and lower-income communities still face barriers to (digital) adoption,” he explained. “These challenges are less about technology and more about user confidence.”

“Financial inclusivity is about ensuring that everyone – regardless of income level, geography, or education – has access to, and can confidently use, affordable and secure financial services,” said Misra.

This was produced in partnership with the Monetary Authority of Singapore and the Global Finance & Technology Network.

For more stories, go to https://bt.sg/sff2025