MORE consumers in South-east Asia are spending less on material items and forking out more on experiences such as holidays, entertainment and gastronomic events, indicated data compiled from UOB’s credit and debit card billings.

“Asean consumers’ inclinations towards travel, dining and entertainment are testament to their preference for seeking experiences rather than material things,” said Jacquelyn Tan, the bank’s head of group personal financial services.

“In particular, we see entertainment as a very promising space for UOB. That is why we are forging inroads into it to better serve our customers’ aspirational lifestyles,” she added.

The bank’s data showed that, across the region, travel remains high on many people’s lists – travel-related spend between January and September this year more than doubled compared with the same nine-month period in 2022.

Shopping-related card spend also increased by over 80 per cent year on year, while e-commerce spending grew by nearly 80 per cent. Dining also experienced a big jump of slightly over 60 per cent. In Singapore, entertainment billings rose by more than 55 per cent over the same nine-month time frame. The amount of travel billings was not too far behind, going up by about 50 per cent compared with last year.

Entertainment opportunities

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As part of UOB’s big push to tap into the entertainment space, the bank organised a total of five exclusive pre-sale rounds for tickets to Taylor Swift’s upcoming concert tour in Singapore, and Ed Sheeran’s four-city tour of the region that will see stops in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand.

The pre-sale events were a big hit with UOB customers, with more than 150,000 tickets sold in all, generating sales volumes of more than S$45 million.

Separately, the bank signed a naming rights partnership with sports and live entertainment company AEG and the EM District – renowned for developing Thailand’s premier retail and entertainment complexes – to establish UOB Live, a 6,000-pax capacity entertainment venue located at The Emsphere shopping mall in Bangkok.

In future, UOB aims to bring in two global entertainment partnerships every year, with the aim of facilitating greater access to concerts, festivals, and meet-and-greet opportunities in the entertainment space across the region for consumers.

“This aligns with our vision to be the bank of choice for Asean, while offering our customers exclusive experiences that only UOB can provide,” said Tan.

Cash-lite society

Spending habits aside, the ways in which consumers choose to pay are also changing. Cash is not necessarily king any longer, with more people embracing a slew of alternative payment modes.

UOB’s data indicates that across Asean today, about 40 per cent of total spending is via e-commerce transactions. In Singapore, the figure is higher at around 50 per cent.

The bank’s latest Asean Consumer Sentiment Study also found that e-wallets, e-commerce payment platforms and mobile banking are the most popular payment methods in the region, with about one in two consumers employing at least one of these modes within the last 12 months.

Roughly one in five consumers said that they also plan to use mobile wallet debit and credit cards in the next six to 12 months.

Tan said that UOB celebrates its clients’ uniqueness with cards that fit every lifestyle and preference.

For instance, travel aficionados are able to earn miles by spending with the KrisFlyer UOB credit card or the PRVI card, while sustainability champions can offset more than 100 per cent of their electricity carbon footprint with the UOB EVOL card.

Cross-border payments 

The bank also said that more consumers are going online to convert foreign currencies, as the travel industry regains its groove in the post-pandemic era.

UOB’s customer base for Mighty FX, which provides customers with round-the-clock access to competitive foreign currency exchange rates for 11 major currencies, recorded strong growth of 45 per cent year on year from January to September this year.

Mighty FX also processed nearly 70 per cent more currency conversion quantums in the same period, with transaction counts growing more than 115 per cent.

Data indicated that popular travel destinations for the year include the US, Japan and Australia, whose currencies had the highest conversion amounts in the first nine months of 2023.

Consumers are also turning to cross-border payment linkages such as Malaysia’s DuitNow and Thailand’s PromptPay. These form attractive alternatives to paying with cash due to the relatively lower costs and immediacy in overseas transactions.

Said Tan: “As Asean becomes a more digitally integrated consumer market, we expect such cashless and digital payment modes to continue growing in popularity.”