SINGAPORE | A new report by Alipay+ and S&P Global revealed a growing "commerce digitalisation gap".
The study, which surveyed 6,000 consumers across nine markets in Asia, Europe and the US on their cross-border spending habits, pointed to a major shift underway in global commerce, one where e-wallets, AI and interoperable digital ecosystems have become foundational to how consumers discover, transact and engage across borders.
“The world has already become mobile-first and borderless, and the challenge now is whether commerce infrastructure can evolve quickly enough to keep pace with consumer expectations,” said Douglas Feagin, President of Ant International.
“The next phase of global commerce will not be defined by whether payments are digital, but whether ecosystems are intelligent, interoperable and globally connected.”
Interoperability foundational to cross-border commerce
Consumers have been moving fluidly between e-wallets, cards, QR codes and NFC-based payment ecosystems across borders. Yet the travel journey has remained fragmented across local payment environments, creating growing friction between rising consumer expectations and existing commerce infrastructure.
Mobile payments have now become the preferred method for everyday, in-destination spending on food, shopping, and local attractions, while cards continue to dominate pre-trip bookings, particularly in Germany and the United States.
Mobile payments, across both QR and NFC, are also rapidly gaining traction, with 63 percent of consumers already using them for most transactions while travelling.
Preferences, however, diverge across markets, with consumers from China, Malaysia and Thailand preferring QR payments, while those from the US, UK and Germany favour NFC-based, card-linked wallets.
Respondents who do not use digital payments expressed a clear intent to adopt them, saying they were either “very likely” (49 percent) or “somewhat likely” (51 percent) to use these methods on future trips.
This divergence has created growing friction across the travel journey.
More than half of consumers cited concerns around transaction security (62 percent), exchange rates and fees (56 percent), unfamiliar payment terminal steps (56 percent) and merchant acceptance (53 percent) when using mobile payments abroad.
Friction also began before consumers depart, with 54 percent reporting challenges using preferred payment methods during pre-trip bookings.
As a result, one in four still carried cash as a fallback, particularly among older consumers and in markets perceived as less interoperable.
Consumers are consolidating around integrated wallet ecosystems
Travel has accelerated the shift from payment apps to global-native wallet ecosystems, as consumers gravitate toward integrated platforms that combine discovery, booking, payments, rewards, and in-destination services in a single experience.
Consumers increasingly cited overwhelming choices, fragmented booking platforms and lack of destination-specific guidance as major frustrations when planning travel.
At the same time, rewards and cashback (52 percent), better FX rates (51 percent) and expense tracking (50 percent) rank among the strongest drivers of wallet usage globally
Demand for integrated in-app travel services has also accelerated, with consumers expressing strong interest in restaurant reservations and payments (61 percent), all-in-one travel booking (58 percent), attraction tickets and passes (57 percent), and local transportation booking (54 percent).
Expectations, however, vary across markets. Consumers from China, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore showed stronger demand for integrated experiences within a single app, while those in Japan and Germany prioritise security, transparency and predictable payment experiences.
AI is trusted for advice, but not yet for action
AI adoption has accelerated rapidly, with 81.3 percent of consumers already using AI-powered tools to explore destinations and experiences. However, adoption has become more selective as AI moves from exploration to action.
While 73.2 percent of consumers were open to using AI for hotel or flight bookings over the next 12 months, confidence has declined as AI moves closer to payments and autonomous decision-making, with only 26 percent of consumers stating interest in doing so.
Yet, openness towards AI-enabled commerce remains strong, particularly in markets such as China, Malaysia and Thailand.
When asked about using an AI travel assistant during their trip, 87.7 percent of global consumers said they value AI-supported bookings and re-bookings, AI-assisted payments and refunds (86.9 percent), and real-time travel guidance and support (84.6 percent).
The gap between AI discovery and execution ultimately comes down to trust and control. Privacy concerns remain high globally (43 percent), while two in five consumers (43 percent) say they hesitate to use AI assistants because they prefer planning travel themselves, and a third (32 percent) cite a preference for human advice.
“The opportunity lies in embedding AI securely within trusted ecosystems, allowing consumers to act on intent more seamlessly while retaining trust and user control across the commerce journey,” added Feagin.
As consumer behaviours become increasingly digital and mobile-first, payment apps will be the natural convergence point for commerce, rewards, and AI services.
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