Emerging markets are bypassing legacy banking infrastructure by embracing low-cost, mobile-first, and real-time payment systems. Driven by the need to support a massive unbanked population, a booming creator economy, and regional trade, regions like Africa, Asia, and Latin America are rapidly shifting toward digital wallets, interoperable payment rails, and stablecoins.
Emerging markets are home to over 6.9 billion people. They drive close to 80% of global economic growth and are projected to generate about $12 trillion in additional financial wealth by 2030.
Let’s take a closer look at what the growth of digital payments in emerging markets means for today’s expanding businesses.
Where the fastest growth is happening
- Africa’s cross-border payments market is expected to more than triple, from about $329 billion in 2025 to $1 trillion in 2035.
- Asia Pacific market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 8% from 2026 to 2033. Cross-border payment flows in Asia are projected to reach $23.8 trillion by 2032.
- Latin America’s cross-border payments market is forecast to reach $1.8 trillion by 2034, growing at a 10.13% CAGR.
For decades, populations in these regions have been largely underbanked. Instead of only traditional financial institutions, technology is now playing a large part in combating this challenge. As the G20 notes, digital financial services are crucial to bridge the gap toward financial inclusion — and the potential is already becoming clear. According to the World Bank, across low- and middle-income economies, 61% of adults made or received a digital payment in 2024, a 27% increase from 2014.
Key drivers of digital payments adoption in the emerging markets
In addition to broad technological improvements, unique factors are accelerating digital payments in emerging markets.
Mobile-first payments and the e-commerce boom
The movement away from cash has been due to both convenience and necessity. Emerging markets bypassed building and expanding traditional banking systems, a slow and expensive process. Instead, they created their own mobile-first payments and e-commerce solutions that best fit their local constraints.
Whether companies process payments domestically or internationally, it’s now imperative that they possess the infrastructure to connect with regional and global audiences.
The promise of one-click purchasing and access to goods from new markets has in turn prompted more customers to adopt digital wallets and online payments platforms. This shift away from traditional retail transactions has also prompted many non-financial companies to offer built-in tools, such as payments processing or even lending, a practice known as embedded finance.
Remittances
The use of digital payments is also rising in concert with an increase in remittances to low- and middle-income countries, which reached an overall value of $685 billion out of the global total estimated at $905 billion. This underscores the fact that smartphones have become a fulcrum in the flow of currencies across borders.
That’s because digital-first money transfer organizations (MTOs) have made it easier to send money by enabling large numbers of unbanked residents to do it digitally using just mobile phones, tablets, or computers. The Visa Economic Empowerment Institute notes that MTOs’ ease of use and lower fixed costs spurred competition and lowered rates for consumers. By circumventing traditional banking systems, these challenger services offer “faster speed, better transparency, and lower costs.”
What does that mean for money transfers across borders? As outlined by the Global Knowledge Partnership on Migration and Development (KNOMAD), cross-border remittances and currency valuations are deeply intertwined. For instance, if the Mexican Peso (MXN) weakens relative to the USD, remittances sent from the US translate into significantly more MXN, boosting the local economy. When the euro weakens against the US dollar, it reduces the valuation and purchasing power of remittances sent from European countries back to families in Asia or Africa.
A puzzle of regulation, security, and interoperability
These favorable trends are creating a tailwind for the cross-border payments industry, but there are ongoing hurdles.
Fintech firms, technology companies, and local banks must all contend with opaque compliance requirements, shifting regulatory environments, and an ever-increasing range of digital payments methods, such as stablecoins.
So how can expanding businesses ensure their payments processing is both widely accessible and secure? By working in collaboration with a payments provider that combines a worldwide network and local expertise with a modern platform.
Expand globally with a trusted FX partner
Despite the global volatility, for many emerging economies, this strong growth doesn’t show signs of halting. Driven by innovation and a greater focus on interoperability, the World Bank expects the digital payments market to grow at a CAGR of 35.5% from 2025 to 2030.
Partnering with a payments provider with a global footprint and deep experience in emerging markets can make all the difference for your business’s future payments strategy. Whether it’s navigating a new digital payments ecosystem or avoiding holdups due to the nuances of regional compliance, choosing the right partner means you can make global transfers as simple as local payments.
Convera’s global reach spans over 140 currencies across more than 200 countries and territories, all backed by a network of leading banks, credit unions, and fintech companies. With experts who have decades of compliance experience in the jurisdictions that matter most to your business, we ensure you can tap into the growth of digital payments worldwide with confidence.
