This comprehensive guide is meticulously curated for international businesses, blending deep data analysis with authentic, on-the-ground insights to provide the understanding needed to expand into the world’s fastest-growing economies, especially given their projection to drive 65% of global growth by 2035.

The 2025 dLocal Emerging Markets Payments Handbook delves into the complex landscape of preferred alternative payment methods (APMs), consumer behaviours, industry shifts, and regulatory updates across Africa & the Middle East, Asia, and Latin America.

It outlines key trends on how people’s payment habits will evolve, offering unparalleled insights into the opportunities emerging markets present for businesses and consumers alike.

What’s inside:

• In-depth analysis of high-growth markets: Gain a deep understanding of demographics and payment ecosystems across Africa & the Middle East, Asia, and Latin America, empowering readers with the tools needed to unlock vast potential.
• The rise of Alternative Payment Methods (APMs): Explore how APMs like eWallets, real-time payments (RTPs), BNPL, cash, and bank transfers are becoming the primary way to pay, not just alternatives.
• Regional trends and projections: Discover evolving payment trends and behaviors, including the surge of mobile money in East and West Africa, the dominance of eWallets in Asia-Pacific (accounting for 70% of eCommerce payments), and the rapid adoption of real-time payments in Latin America, projected to see the world’s fastest growth by 2027 (29% CAGR).
• Strategic insights into local realities: Understand how markets like Nigeria—with its youthful, fast-growing population—Brazil, through its Pix-driven transformation, and Pakistan, with a vast unbanked base, are among the local forces reshaping the future of digital commerce.
• Regulatory evolution and innovation: Learn about the proactive regulatory environments fostering innovation and laying the groundwork for more inclusive and efficient digital finance.

“The most significant growth story in global commerce isn’t unfolding in traditional centers; it’s taking shape in the dynamic, fast-growing economies of the Global South,” said Pedro Arnt, CEO of dLocal. “With 85% of the global population residing in emerging markets and their middle class projected to double by 2034, the opportunities are immense. However, these markets are incredibly diverse and fragmented, with digital demand rising fast and a diverse array of local payment methods rewriting the rules of engagement. This Handbook is designed to help businesses navigate this intricate landscape and truly unlock the future of payments.”

dLocal’s 2025 Emerging Markets Payments Handbook is the essential guide to the future of payments, combining data-driven insights with local expertise.

dLocal’s Emerging Markets Payment Handbook is here.

dLocal powers local payments in emerging markets, connecting global enterprise merchants with billions of emerging market consumers across APAC, the Middle East, Latin America, and Africa. 

The post Inside the 65%: How Africa, Asia, and LATAM Will Drive Global Growth through Payments appeared first on Tech | Business | Economy.

The much publicised Future of Payments and Commerce Conference 2023, organised by the Loveworld Institute of Innovation and technology (LIIT), on October 11, 2023, met the great expectations following the insightful discussions, presentations, and interactions.

These focused on intensifying innovation in the payment industry in driving financial inclusion and ecommerce in Nigeria.

Speakers mounted the podium to discuss sub-themes derived from the central theme “Leveraging the power of contactless payment for financial inclusion”.

In a lead keynote speech, Kari Tukur, Vice president and head of customer solutions, East and West Africa at Mastercard, reemphasized the convergence of fintech and commerce that has ushered in new experiences for the customers.

Tukur explained how fintechs can leverage digital wallets and contactless technology to scale financial inclusion, adding that such innovation will encourage the entrance of more merchants who are seriously supporting the growth of digital payments in Nigeria.

She noted that the utility of digital wallets like person-to-person payments, bill payment, e-commerce promotes financial inclusion.

“Beyond just enabling the tokenization or creation of these digital wallets, we also think about how we are able to enable the openness of that digital wallet within our network , and the larger card network”

“And we make sure we have various ways in which merchants can interact on these networks. Now interactions are happening by QR codes, USSD, NFT”

“What we are looking for is a solution that integrates all these alternative payment methods by a singular token, so that as digital wallets and digital payment solution evolves, they are able to adopt that and respond better to the changing customer behaviour “

“As digital transaction evolves, we cannot ignore the actions of the bad players, so, EFTs, financial institutions are overhauling fraud capability to ensure they are able to protect you from the actions of bad actors”

Speaking on the topic “Enabling the next era of digital commerce – innovations in payments”, Akem Lawal, managing director, Payment Processing and Switching (Interswitch Purepay), said that innovation is a necessity in Africa because most of the problems can be solved by us in ways that nobody else can understand. He laid emphasis on the need to activate innovative approaches in Africa.

According to him, four innovations; open banking, blockchain, tokenization, big data, artificial intelligence and the internet of things, will properly shape the future of payments in the future.

Panel session:

The panel discussion on “Fintech Innovations and Open Banking for Inclusive Financial Services”, opened the eyes of the participants to gaps and opportunities in the sector.

The panel moderated by Peter Oluka, editor of Techeconomy, had Akin Ajayi, Director, Business Development, Fintech & Enablers EEMEA; Ebenezer Akinyemi, Head, Fintech Partnership and Ecosystem; David Adeleke, Co-founder and CEO, Zeeh Africa, as the panelists.

Akinyemi said that the link between open banking and financial inclusion is evident in the Parallex Bank’s operations which has translated in solving the pain points for their customers in Nigeria and diaspora.

According to him, they observed that customers require banking services that are accessible, affordable, and convenient, and have used these information to tailor their innovations towards customer needs.

Akinyemi said that Parallex Bank which started as a microfinance bank and then a commercial bank, in addition to its partnership with Fintechs like Mastercard, Zeeh Africa and Interswitch, has able to aggregate these solutions to be able to satisfy the changing customer needs.

Speaking on how Fintechs can reach the $360 bn credit gap in Africa with open banking, Adeleke said that Open banking enables lenders to make data lending decisions by providing a customer’s banking footprint as opposed to the traditional way of monitoring a customer’s banking transactions for a while before releasing funds.

He noted that he expects to see a thriving middle class through open banking implementation.

“Seeing open banking cutting across so many personal services like personal insurance, pension, universal debit or credit card, will increase the financial ecosystem more accessible.”

Ajayi, who spoke on how banking Verification can be made seamless for the merchants and for the customers, said that fintech innovators will continue to follow the lead of the financial regulators and the technology advancement, until they are convince that the country has reached the point where they can start providing new KYC solutions.

Each member of the panel agreed that future innovations around financial services would be determined majorly by the Customer need.

However, Akinyemi also noted that the regulator and the fintechs should be able to reach a balance to.

He emphasized that all parties play crucial roles to satisfy the Customer.

Oludotun Akinwunmi, the Convener Future of Payments and Commerce Conference, applauded the speakers and participants for their show of commitment to shaping the future of payments and commerce in Nigeria.

“Together, we can harness the potential of contactless payment technology to promote financial inclusion and drive economic growth in our nation”.

The Inaugural edition of Future of Payments and Commerce Conference was sponsored by Parallex Bank, Mastercard, Spectrum Microfinance Bank, Toronet, Tap and Pay, SMEDAN, Zeeh Africa, Refuge Microfinance Bank and Tori Communications.

Techeconomy was the official media partner.

The post From Contactless Payment, Blockchain, Digital Commerce to Open Banking – Highlights of LIIT Payment & Commerce Conference 2023 appeared first on Tech | Business | Economy.

According to a report by KPMG, the payments landscape has gone through significant transformation in recent years.

Technological advancements have led to step changes in innovation, with payments becoming faster, on both a local and global scale, cheaper, easier and more convenient.

This has not gone unnoticed by the regulators who are now looking into how regulation needs to adapt to meet these changes.

The future of payments and fraud conference also connotes that as business and customer needs evolve, it is clear that the payments ecosystem must be agile and open to innovation without sacrificing the financial stability the infrastructure is built on.

With a huge interest from South Africa, Kenya, Eqypt, USA, UK, Canada, Estonia and so many other countries, the event will highlight discussions around What is the next big thing in Payments? Digital Financial Services Adoption: Securing the Access Points against Fraud, Digital Identity: Building a collaborative firewall against fraud and other paper presentations. 

The special guests and speakers for this event include Aishah Ahmad, Deputy Governor FSS CBN and Yakubu Oseni, Chairman Senate Committee on ICT and Cybercrime National Assembly, Andrew Uaboi, Country Manager VISA Nigeria, Emmanuel Babalola, Chief Executive Director, Bundle Africa, Akeem Lawal, Managing Director, Payment Processing and Transaction Switching (Interswitch Purepay), Jonah Adams, Managing Director Infrastructure and Managed Services (Interswitch Systegra) Interswitch.

Kareem Adebayo Olatoye, Motunrayo I. Joseph-Hunvenu from the Faculty of Law, Lagos State University, Peter Ejiofor Chairman/CEO Ethnos IT Solutions Limited, Olu Akanmu, President and CEO, OPay Nigeria, Uduak Udoh, Chairman ACAEBIN and Group Chief Audit Executive, First Bank of Nigeria Limited.

Ronke Kuye, Chief Executive Officer Shared Agent Network Expansion Facilities Limited (SANEF), Ibrahim Toyeeb, CEO, Leatherback, Adedoyin Odunf, MD/CEO Digital Jewels Ltd, Adedeji Olowe, Trustee, Open Banking Nigeria and Founder Lendsqr, Babatunde Oghenobruche Obrimah, Chief Operating Officer, Fintech Association of Nigeria, Ihenyen, President, Stakeholders in Blockchain Association in Nigeria (SIBAN) and Lead Partner, Infusion Lawyers, Clifford Niemand, Chief Operations Director, KnoxWire.  

Other industry leaders include Simeon Ogunnubi Nofa, Chief Operating Officer, AjoCASH, Taye Awofiranye, Managing Partner Trusted Advisors, C.S.E. Nuru Buhari Dalhatu, Head, Digital Forensics Unit/ Advance Fee Fraud Section 1, EFCC, Lagos Command, Abikure Tega, CEO Kumo Africa, AIG FCID Alagbon Nigeria Police Force, Tokunbo Taiwo, Group Chief Technical Officer (CTO) Digital Jewels Ltd, Mobolaji Oriola, Senior Partner Allen  and Brooks, Frank Eleanya, Editor, BusinessDay Media Limited, Peter Oluka, Chief Editor Techeconomy.ng and Nimma Jo- Madugu, Partner, Kenna Partners will moderate the sessions at the event. 

The conference is sponsored by VISA, Bundle Africa, Interswitch, Ethnos IT Solutions Ltd, KnoxWire, Digital Jewels, Flutterwave, and LeatherBack. With Industry partners such as Association of Licensed Mobile Operators of Nigeria (ALMPO), Fintech Association of Nigeria (FINTechNGR), Open Banking Nigeria, Association of Chief Audit Executives of Banks in  Nigeria (ACAEBIN),  Shared Agent Network Expansion Facilities (SANEF), Stakeholders in Blockchain Technology Association of Nigeria (SIBAN), and TechEconomy and BeinCrypto as media partners.  

The post BusinessDay’s Future of Payments and Fraud Conference 2022 Holds Tomorrow appeared first on Tech | Business | Economy.