Report Description

Following in the footsteps of the European Union, it was hoped that the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) would also help drive a Single European Payments Area (SEPA)-style payments network that would facilitate and streamline crossborder payments across the region. As originally envisioned, this ‘Asian Payment Network’ would begin in the ASEAN countries and eventually grow to include many nations across APAC.

However, the lack of uniform regulations within ASEAN and the different economic priorities of the member states have impeded the development of a region-wide agreement on cross-border payments. The ASEAN organization itself is still undecided on how to approach the creation of an Asian Payment Network. It is unclear at this point what such an organization would look like and how it would function. Fundamental questions such as who will own the underlying infrastructure and what settlement currency should be used, remain unanswered.

This report answers those key questions and more.

To download the Envisioning a Pan-Regional Real-Time Payment Ecosystem in Southeast Asia report, written in collaboration with ACI, please fill in the following form: