APAC fintech market locks 76.6% share in mobile apps

Merchants shift to smartphone terminals in hawker centres and wet markets to cut hardware costs.

Asia-Pacific’s financial technology market is largely dominated by mobile applications, with a 76.6% estimated market share for 2025, according to Mordor Intelligence.

However, point-of-sale (POS) and Internet of Things (IoT) devices achieve the fastest compound annual growth rate of 23.7% through 2031, as contactless payment infrastructure grows across retail environments.

The changes are driven by growing merchant interest in integrated payment terminals that accept QR codes, NFC payments, and biometric authentication without requiring separate hardware investments. 

Some examples are Singapore's hawker centres and Malaysia's wet markets, which increasingly deploy smartphone-based POS systems that enable small merchants to accept digital payments without traditional card terminal costs, whilst Indonesia's warung (small shops) adopt QR code displays that integrate with multiple payment networks simultaneously.

Geographically, China holds 40.1% of the market share in 2025, thanks to Ant Group's Alipay and Tencent's WeChat Pay dominance, yet regulatory restrictions on data sharing and cross-border transactions limit growth potential compared to other regional markets. 

India emerges as the fastest-growing geography at 27.3% CAGR through 2031, driven by UPI transaction volume exceeding 100 billion annually and RBI initiatives promoting digital lending through co-lending frameworks. 

The country's fintech ecosystem benefits from English-language advantages that facilitate international expansion, whilst regulatory sandboxes enable innovative product development without full licensing requirements initially.

Collectively, Southeast Asia represent 25% of the regional activity, with Singapore signifying as the regulatory innovation hub through the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s progressive approach to digital banking licenses and cross-border payment facilitation.

Indonesia drives volume growth through its 270 million population base and government initiatives promoting financial inclusion, whilst the Philippines benefits from overseas remittance flows that create demand for digital money transfer services. 

Australia and Japan represent mature markets with established regulatory frameworks that enable fintech innovation whilst maintaining consumer protection standards, creating opportunities for premium financial services targeting affluent demographics.