The Case for Driving Digital Economies in Asia

Mastercard’s President of Global Enterprise Growth, Raghu Malhotra, gave his views on Digital Payment Regulations in Asia recently to Asia Business Outlook. His starting point was to argue for harmonised regulations in order to increase cross-border transactions and financial inclusion. If there can be a seamless operation across four countries versus a single country, the economics will differ and benefit the end consumer and merchants.

Digital economies rest on digital infrastructure and ecosystems, but literacy, adoption and inclusion metrics are all different and this drives regulatory differences. When policies are consistent, it is easier to increase productivity and reduce payment friction. Given how interdependent economies are, governments should work to increase this.

Cyber security and data protection need regulation, but because the technology and threats continuously evolve, so must those regulations. The advent of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the adoption of biometric technology are recent examples of change.