Guide to navigating iGaming payments in Asia

Everything iGaming operators need to know about regulation, technology and local payment methods in Asia, abridged.

With a market of $104 billion, Asia Pacific accounted for 23% of global gambling revenue in 2024. Overall gambling revenue is predicted to grow 6% between 2024 and 2031, buoyed by increasing disposable income and cultural acceptance of betting and gaming as a leisure activity.

Asia has always had a strong land-based casino sector, buoyed by tourism and high-roller junkets, especially in Singapore and Macau. A passionate sports culture, where fandom and the desire to support favorite teams or players makes sports betting popular.

iGaming is also on the rise. The increasing adoption of smartphones and cryptocurrencies are transforming how people play and pay across the region. However, it goes without saying that Asia is not one homogenous market. Significant differences exist both within and between countries, which operators must navigate to be successful.

Regulatory outlook

iGaming regulations in Asia Pacific vary widely, ranging from being fully legal to illegal and everything in between.

Online gambling is permitted through licensed operators in New Zealand and Philippines. Whereas it is largely prohibited in Indonesia, Malaysia, South Korea and Vietnam.

iGaming is partially legal in Australia, Japan and India at the time of writing. In Australia, online betting is allowed with state licenses, whereas online poker and casino gaming, including slots, roulette and blackjack, are prohibited.

In Japan, most forms of betting are prohibited and there are strict regulations on land-based casino operators, including entry restrictions for Japanese citizens. However, online casinos exist in a grey area. Operating an online casino in Japan is illegal, yet Japanese players are able to access and play on foreign casino websites.

In India, there’s no federal framework governing online gambling. Under a patchwork of state-specific regulations, some states permit online table games and slots (Goa and Sikkim) while others ban it. Online sports betting is not yet legal anywhere in India.

iGaming regulation is under constant review in most markets. Many make distinctions between games of skill and games of chance. All are concerned about the impact of black-market activity, financial crime and gambling harm. Opportunities for expansion and collaboration exist for those willing to seek them out.

Mobile technology enables digital transformation

At the end of 2023, 1.8 billion people in Asia Pacific (63% of the population) subscribed to a mobile service, according to GSMA data. 78% of those connections were via a smartphone.

The growth of mobile internet has been especially remarkable, with half the region’s population of 1.4 billion users adopting mobile internet. This is almost triple the figure a decade earlier.

Several APAC countries, including Australia, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea rank as some of the world’s most digitally advanced nations. Yet large parts of Asia’s population remain unconnected, despite being within areas of mobile coverage.

The usage gap represents a huge opportunity for both public and private sector operators to improve digital, financial and social inclusion, plus extend ecommerce and iGaming to a new demographic.

APAC is pro crypto. According to Chainalysis, seven of the top 20 countries with the highest crypto adoption rates can be found in the region: India (#1), Indonesia (#3), Vietnam (#5), Philippines (#8), Pakistan (#9), Thailand (#16) and Cambodia (#17). All have high levels of activity on local crypto exchanges, with merchants for payment and in decentralized finance.

Increasing adoption of smartphones and cryptocurrencies are transforming how people play and pay across the region. However, there’s significant variation country to country.

Payments in Asia: not one homogenous market

APAC has long been a leader in digital payment adoption. It is the only region worldwide where digital wallets accounted for a majority of both in-store and online payments in 2024, according to a Worldpay report.

Credit card use is spread unevenly in Asia. Plastic is the leading payment method in Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan. In Indonesia, Philippines and Thailand, not so much.

Elsewhere in the same report, Worldpay found that cash use has dropped dramatically across the region, namely 78% in a decade. However, countries are moving at different speeds towards a less-cash future.

Cash holdouts include Indonesia, Japan and Philippines, where notes and coins accounted for around 40% of payments in physical stores. Whereas at the other end of the scale cash accounts for only 5-7% of point-of-sale payments in New Zealand and South Korea.

Real-time payment systems are transforming payments in Asia. From PromptPay in Thailand, UPI in India to FAST in Singapore A2A payments done faster are helping boost financial inclusion, improve business cashflow, lower costs and enhance customer experience. That being said…

No winner-takes-all payment

Countries and regions are starting from different places, moving at different speeds and taking different routes to the future. One size doesn’t fit all payment use cases, channels, purchase values and so on. That’s why there’ll be more niche payment products. And more variety between countries, not less.

Some popular local payment methods country by country include:

• Australia: Visa (card), Mastercard (card), Apple Pay (digital wallet), Google Wallet (digital wallet), PayPal (digital wallet)
• India: Google Pay (digital wallet), PhonePe (digital wallet), Paytm (digital wallet), UPI (real-time transfer)
• Japan: Pay Pay (digital wallet), Rakuten Pay (digital wallet), au PAY (digital wallet),
• New Zealand: Visa (card), Mastercard (card), Apple Pay (digital wallet), Afterpay (BNPL)
• Philippines: GCash (digital wallet), InstaPay (bank transfer), PESONet (bank transfer)
• South Korea: Shinhan Card (local card), KB Kookmin Card (local card), Samsung Card (local card) KakaoPay (digital wallet), Naver Pay (digital wallet)
• Thailand: PromptPay (real-time transfer), TrueMoney (digital wallet), ShopeePay (digital wallet)
• Vietnam: MoMo (digital wallet), ZaloPay (digital wallet), Moca (digital wallet), VietQR (bank transfer)

Cross-border payment complexity, simplified

While payments have gone digital on the customer-facing front end. Money movement behind the scenes is still largely analogue. That means expensive, slow and often lacking in transparency, especially for cross-border payments.

It pays to consider the alternatives. Newer payment providers, like Inpay, have effectively built giant on-us bank networks, where payments take place between participant members. Inpay controls the routing of individual payments, which has two main advantages.

Firstly, Inpay can pick the optimal route and pre-empt problems, resulting in industry-leading transaction success rates. Secondly, Inpay can ensure that there aren’t unknown FX factors, or surprise intermediary bank fees, resulting in cost savings for iGaming operators.

Winnings arrive in full which is great for players. And even better for iGaming operators, as payments are cheaper than traditional bank transfers, debits or original credits to cards. Inpay also offers Open Banking-enabled pay-ins, which are more convenient for players, and increase conversion rates for operators, with significant savings vs card payments.