EBANX Announces Expansion Into four Southeast Asian Countries and Turkey

WHY THIS MATTERS
EBANX’s expansion into Southeast Asia and Turkey reflects a major shift in global payments, where growth is increasingly driven by emerging markets rather than mature economies. The scale is significant: over 1.1 billion consumers and a 610 billion dollar digital commerce opportunity, with spending expected to grow far faster than in Western markets.

What makes this region unique is its payment infrastructure. Many of these economies effectively skipped the traditional card phase, moving straight from cash to digital wallets and account-to-account transfers. This creates both opportunity and complexity. For global merchants, success is no longer about simply enabling card payments, it requires deep local integration with fragmented, country-specific payment methods.

EBANX’s model addresses this directly by acting as a bridge between global businesses and local payment ecosystems. By integrating over 20 payment methods across the region, the company is positioning itself as critical infrastructure for cross-border commerce, helping merchants improve conversion rates and access previously hard-to-reach consumers.

EBANX, a global technology company specialising in cross-border payment services for emerging markets, will begin operating in five new countries: Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, and Turkey. With this expansion, EBANX will have integrated payment methods across seven economies in Asia, including India and the Philippines. Combined, they represent a USD 610 billion opportunity in digital commerce and more than 1.1 billion consumers, according to data from Payments and Commerce Market Intelligence (PCMI) and World Data Lab (WDL) analysed by EBANX. The five new markets alone account for 57% of that volume and 386 million of those consumers — whose spending is projected to grow 97% over the next decade, faster than regions like Europe, the US, and Canada, per WDL data featured in EBANX’s Beyond Borders 2026 study.

EBANX’s announcement follows a series of milestones in the region: the inauguration of its Asia-Pacific Headquarters in Singapore, a Major Payment Institution (MPI) licence from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), and the appointment of Eduardo de Abreu as Chief Product Officer (CPO) and regional CEO of EBANX Singapore.

“Asia is where the world’s fastest-growing consumer base is, and also where some of the most ambitious digital companies are headquartered,” said João Del Valle, Co-founder and CEO of EBANX. “Our investment in the region allows us to be closer to both. Global companies need local payment infrastructure to reach Asian consumers, and Asian companies need that same expertise to sell internationally. The opportunity runs in both directions.”

Amongst the five new EBANX’s additions, Vietnam is the fastest-growing digital commerce market, with a 22% compound annual rate through 2027, according to PCMI projections — rising from USD 36 billion to USD 44 billion. The others are not far behind. Indonesia will expand 19% over the same period, from USD 106 billion to USD 125 billion. Turkey’s 15% growth takes it from USD 123 billion to USD 142 billion. Malaysia and Thailand round out the group at 16% and 15%, respectively.

As global merchants look to diversify beyond established markets like the U.S., Europe, Brazil, and Mexico, cross-border demand in these economies is already waiting for them: international transactions account for 30% of e-commerce volume in Thailand and Malaysia, and 28% in the Philippines.

EBANX’s operations in Indonesia, Thailand, and Turkey are already available to merchants, with Malaysia and Vietnam set to follow in the next quarter. EBANX’s APAC HQ in Singapore will fully support these operations.

A region that skipped the card era

Southeast Asia’s payment landscape is structurally distinct from other emerging markets. EBANX’s new countries of payment operations largely bypassed card infrastructure entirely, going from cash straight to e-wallets and account-to-account (A2A) transfers. Combined, those two methods account for 65% of e-commerce in Thailand, 61% in Indonesia, 50% in the Philippines, 35% in Malaysia, and 21% in Vietnam, according to PCMI.

“This did not happen by accident,” explained Eduardo de Abreu, Chief Product Officer and regional CEO of EBANX Singapore. “Southeast Asia has one of the youngest, most digitally fluent consumer populations in the world. Many of them got their first smartphone before they ever had a bank account, and certainly before they had a credit card. Digital wallets and instant transfers solved a real problem for a generation that was already living online.”

According to WDL data analysed by EBANX, Southeast Asia and India are the only regions where Generation Z holds the largest share of online spending across all verticals, at 27%. Elsewhere in Asia, Generation X leads at 30% — nearly double Gen Z’s 18% share.

How to reach local consumers

That payment landscape has become a barrier for global companies looking to scale in the region. According to an EBANX survey with its merchants, its fragmentation and low card usage often lead to performance issues that prevent them from reaching local consumers.

“The global companies we talk to about Southeast Asia are no longer asking about the region’s potential; they are asking how to unlock that potential and achieve high conversion rates,” said Abreu. “Our APAC Headquarters in Singapore gives us the regulatory anchor and the operational proximity to build country-by-country solutions that actually convert. We have been working towards this expansion for years, and the infrastructure is ready.”

Considering the seven Asian countries in EBANX’s portfolio, the company will have integrated more than 20 payment methods across the region. Amongst them are some of the most widely used alternative payment methods in each market, such as digital wallets and account-to-account (A2A) transactions—like bank transfers and QR-based payments—, as well as credit and debit cards.

FF NEWS TAKE
This is a strategic land grab in one of the most important growth regions for global commerce. Southeast Asia is not just growing fast, it is structurally different, and that difference is where the opportunity lies.

The key insight here is that payments are local. Global companies cannot scale in these markets without adapting to how consumers actually pay. EBANX is building the rails that make that possible, and doing it market by market rather than trying to force a one-size-fits-all approach.

There is also a generational dynamic at play. Younger, mobile-first consumers are driving adoption of wallets and instant payments, which further reduces the relevance of traditional card networks in these regions.

The challenge will be execution at scale. Fragmentation across countries, regulatory environments, and payment methods adds complexity. But if EBANX can manage that effectively, it strengthens its position as a key enabler of cross-border growth.

Overall, this move reinforces a broader trend. The future of global payments will be defined less by cards and more by localised, real-time payment systems, particularly in high-growth emerging markets.