Southeast Asia’s E-Commerce to Reach New Heights, Driven by Digital Payments and Cross-Border Commerce Growth

SINGAPORE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Mar 11, 2025--

The latest InfoBrief by market intelligence firm IDC, commissioned by global payments platform 2C2P and Antom, revealed Southeast Asia’s (SEA’s) ecommerce market is projected to reach US$325 billion by 2028, fuelled by the rapid adoption of digital payments and regional interoperability, unlocking more opportunities in cross-border commerce for businesses.

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This year’s research paper, “How Southeast Asia Buys and Pays 2025”, marks the fourth edition of the IDC InfoBrief since 2021. IDC surveyed 600 respondents across six Southeast Asia (SEA) markets – Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, examining the evolving digital payments landscape as a whole and in each market. 1 As the fifth largest economy in the world, SEA’s exceptional growth trajectory is largely driven by its rapidly expanding e-commerce sector, underpinned by increasing digital payment adoption.

The research explores the region’s evolving digital payments landscape and provides a market-specific analysis of the payment trends in each market. It also sheds light on how these trends are reshaping business strategies and laying the foundation for future growth opportunities in the region.

Key highlights from the IDC InfoBrief:

It is critical to have a comprehensive understanding of SEA’s digital payment landscape to fully tap into this US$325b economy. To maximise reach within local markets, it is essential to offer customers their preferred payment methods to enhance the overall customer experience and drive higher conversion rates.

There are also significant opportunities across SEA in intra-SEA cross border commerce.

Agnes Chua, Managing Director of Business and Product Development of 2C2P, stated, “Southeast Asia’s e-commerce landscape is evolving at a breathtaking pace. Merchants recognise the immense opportunities this growth brings them in driving e-commerce revenue, but also acknowledge the increasing complexity it brings to their operations. This includes common challenges such as customer support and issue resolution, payment gateway integration and technology issues. At 2C2P, we empower businesses to navigate these challenges with confidence by delivering payment solutions that simplify operations, enhance cross-border capabilities, and drive growth in the region’s rapidly expanding digital economy so merchants can quickly unlock new opportunities and thrive in this dynamic environment."

Gary Liu, General Manager of Antom, Ant International, said, “Southeast Asia is rapidly emerging as a global hub for digital commerce and innovation. As businesses expand across borders, seamless and efficient transactions are essential for maintaining competitiveness. At Antom, we see payments not just as infrastructure but as a catalyst for business growth. By working with 2C2P and other businesses within Ant International's ecosystem, we empower merchants with unified payment and digitisation solutions covering the full payment lifecycle while also exploring opportunities in global account services, financing, and treasury management to further support their expansion. Through close collaboration with local regulators and industry partners, we aim to unlock new opportunities for businesses of all sizes, helping them thrive in Southeast Asia's evolving digital economy."

About 2C2P

2C2P is a full-suite payments platform that empowers the world's leading enterprises to securely accept and make payments through one point of integration. Its extensive network spans across online, mobile and offline channels including over 600,000 alternative payment locations, enabling enterprises to reach their customers or recipients anywhere. 2C2P also provides value-added services such as issuing, 3D Secure, bill payments and digital goods to meet every business need.

Headquartered in Singapore with operations across Southeast Asia and Hong Kong, 2C2P is the preferred payments partner for airlines, online marketplaces, retailers and other enterprises. To learn more, please visit https://2c2p.com/.

About Antom

Ant International's Antom is the leading payment and digitisation services provider for merchants around the world. It offers unified, vertical-specific digital payment solutions to serve businesses of all sizes. Antom supports merchants in over 50 countries and regions, enabling them to connect with consumers in more than 200 markets, with the flexibility to accept payments in more than 100 currencies. Beyond payments, it provides digital marketing solutions and merchant digitisation services to help merchant streamline operations and enhance customer engagement. To learn more, please visit https://www.antom.com/.

1 IDC InfoBrief, commissioned by 2C2P, How Southeast Asia Buys and Pays 2025, Doc #AP242491IB, February 2025

Uncover trends and opportunities in Southeast Asia's digital economy (Graphic: Business Wire)

BANGKOK (AP) — Thai officials said Wednesday they seized 238 tons of illegally imported electronic waste from the United States at the port of Bangkok, one of the biggest lots they've found this year.

The waste, which came in 10 large containers, was declared as mixed metal scrap but turned out to be circuit boards mixed in a huge pile of metal scrap, said Theeraj Athanavanich, director-general of the Customs Department. It was found Tuesday in a random inspection.

A U.N. report last year said electronic waste is piling up worldwide. Some 62 million tons of electronic waste was generated in 2022 and that figure is on track to reach 82 million tons by 2030, the report said. It said only 22% of the waste was properly collected and recycled in 2022 and that quantity is expected to fall to 20% by the end of the decade due to higher consumption, limited repair options, shorter product life cycles, and inadequate management infrastructure.

Theeraj said Thai authorities are looking to press charges including falsely declaring imported goods, illegally importing electronic waste and planning to return the waste to its country of origin.

“It’s important that we take action on this kind of goods,” he said. “There are environmental impacts that are dangerous to the people, especially communities around factories that might import these things for processing, then recycling.”

Electronic waste creates huge health hazards. Many components are laden with lead and mercury, cadmium and other toxins. Recyclers are after gold, silver, palladium and copper, mainly from printed circuit boards, but lax controls mean that facilities often burn plastics to release encased copper and use unsafe methods to extract precious metals.

Thailand passed a ban on the import of a range of electronic waste products in 2020. The Cabinet in February approved an expanded list of the banned waste.

Sunthron Kewsawang, deputy director-general of the Department of Industrial Works, said officials suspected at least two factories in Samut Sakhon province, which borders Bangkok, are involved in importing the waste.

In January, the Customs Department said it seized 256 tons of illegally imported electronic waste from Japan and Hong Kong at a port in eastern Thailand.

A Thai official shows samples of illegally imported electronic waste from the United States which they said they seized at Bangkok Port during a press conference in Bangkok, Thailand, Wednesday, May 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Thai officials display samples of illegally imported electronic waste from the United States which they said they seized at Bangkok Port during a press conference in Bangkok, Thailand, Wednesday, May 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Thai officials show samples of illegally imported electronic waste from the United States which they said they seized at Bangkok Port during a press conference in Bangkok, Thailand, Wednesday, May 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

A Thai official shows a sample of illegally imported electronic waste from the United States which they said they seized at Bangkok Port during a press conference in Bangkok, Thailand, Wednesday, May 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)