A new breed of digital entrepreneur is reshaping Southeast Asia's economic landscape, and many are doing it on the side.
Seventy-five million digital sellers, content creators and gig workers now drive 58% of Asean's digital economy, generating US$175 billion ($228 billion) in gross transaction volume this year, according to the Digital Frontiers 2030 report by HSBC and Google Cloud. Strikingly, 61% are under 35, and nearly two-thirds juggle these digital ventures alongside their full-time or part-time jobs.
These nano-entrepreneurs are part of a broader transformation that could push Southeast Asia's digital economy to US$2 trillion by 2030 (which is double the baseline projection of US$1 trillion) if regional integration and payment innovations accelerate adoption as expected.
The affluent BNPL surprise
The study upends assumptions about who uses financial technology. Long assumed to serve cash-strapped consumers, Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) services are increasingly popular among the wealthy.
Approximately 61% of BNPL users fall into the top two income brackets, with credit card ownership at 69%, compared to 45% among non-users. Rather than a credit lifeline, BNPL has become a cash-flow management tool for the mass affluent, a demographic expected to reach 415 million middle-class consumers across Asean by 2030.
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BNPL transactions are forecasted to represent 25% of online payments by 2027, significantly ahead of the United States (6%) and the global average (5%). The report says this will require “a reshuffling of corporate treasuries to accommodate embedded, fractional purchasing” as brands adapt to changing spending behaviour.
Speed obsession
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Speed and security dominate payment choices across the region, with 67% of Asean consumers citing speed as their main concern when making payments, followed by security at 57%.
Southeast Asian account-to-account payment volumes surpassed card transactions in 2022 and are now growing at a rate of 12% annually, compared to 8% for cards. These faster payments have already unlocked over US$100 billion in economic value through reduced costs, shorter settlement times and greater financial inclusion, according to estimates by the Payments and Commerce Market Intelligence (PCMI).
That momentum is now extending beyond borders. Cross-border payments are projected to double by 2030, aided by Project Nexus, which is a Bank for International Settlements initiative linking domestic real-time payment systems. The project integrated India’s UPI system in June 2024 and drew interest from Europe’s TIPS network by October. It is scheduled to go live in 2026.
The AI agent economy
The report’s most forward-looking insight points to the rise of “agentic commerce”, where AI systems autonomously manage payments, credit and purchasing on behalf of users.
That vision is starting to align with consumer attitudes toward AI and automation. Seventy-three per cent of respondents say they trust AI with their personal data, while 38% identify “AI-powered financial automation” as a top feature they want from digital banks.
Tech firms are already laying the groundwork for that shift. Google Cloud has pioneered the Agent Payments Protocol in collaboration with more than 60 companies, including regional players such as Lazada, Zalora, Razer, and Garena, alongside global firms like Mastercard, PayPal, and American Express. The protocol creates what the companies describe as a "non-repudiable audit trail" from intent to cart to payment, addressing questions of authorisation and accountability when bots transact on behalf of users.
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Singapore leads the charge
Singapore continues to anchor these innovations, ranking first globally in the IMD World Digital Competitiveness Index 2024 and attracting $192 billion in foreign direct investment in 2024.
The city-state is home to more than 4,500 tech startups (including 1,600 fintechs), supported by over 400 venture capital firms and 40-plus innovation labs. Moreover, the Monetary Authority of Singapore's Purpose-Bound Money initiative and Project Orchid are piloting programmable digital dollars with real-world applications in escrow, supplier financing and automated rewards.
“In the near future, AI agents and programmable finance will rewire digital commerce, and a quantum-enabled world will redefine how value moves across borders. Amidst these shifts, we must continue to empower digital entrepreneurs across Asean and create new opportunities for inclusion and growth. The region’s US$2 trillion digital opportunity will be defined by how well we collaborate to build a trusted, interoperable system,” says Shayan Hazir, chief digital officer for Asia (xHK) and MENAT at HSBC.
He continues: “HSBC's global expertise, supported by strong regulatory guardrails, meaningful government partnerships and a highly collaborative technology ecosystem in Singapore, is fast-tracking the development of a new era in digital financial infrastructure."
Mark Micallef, managing director for Southeast Asia at Google Cloud, adds: "Cloud regions have emerged as the foundation for Southeast Asia's growing digital economy. Google Cloud is proud to be part of that foundation, with established cloud regions in Indonesia and Singapore, and upcoming ones in Malaysia and Thailand.
“These cloud regions offer more than just core infrastructure – they also provide access to essential enterprise-grade software development tools, with advanced data encryption and governance controls, that digital entrepreneurs can use to develop and ship modern applications quickly and securely; offer more responsive and cost-effective digital services; and scale easily to meet international demand.”
The Digital Frontiers 2030 report surveyed 2,436 respondents across six Asean markets —including Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines — between December 2024 and May 2025. It was commissioned by HSBC and developed by Payments and Commerce Market Intelligence (PCMI), with insights from Google Cloud.
