- US$72 B* in value exposure at online checkouts in the Asia-Pacific region (APAC)
- Payoneer white paper estimates over US$12 B* in annual value at risk in Singapore from payment inefficiencies
The complexity of cross-border commerce is increasingly shifting risk to the final step of conversion, according to Payoneer, a payment services provider.
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| Source: Payoneer white paper. In these APAC markets, payment, foreign exchange (FX), and settlement inefficiencies collectively represent an estimated US$72.19 B in annual value exposure across the merchant lifecycle. Figures shown only for cart abandonment. |
Payoneer’s latest white paper estimates that US$72 B* in transaction value is being lost each year across Asia-Pacific due to breakdowns at checkout, where payments fail, costs escalate, or funds are delayed. For Singapore merchants, the report estimates that more than US$12 B* in annual value exposure is tied to payment inefficiencies.
As transactions span multiple markets, what should be a simple checkout process ends up being a fragmented chain of approvals, currency conversions, and settlement flows. Payoneer has linked this chaos to the abandonment of online carts are abandoned globally, with a major reason being unexpected fees or payment friction**.
Demand is not the issue — the infrastructure converting that demand is, Payoneer emphasised. In Southeast Asia, 57% of Southeast Asian consumers*** say they would increase cross-border purchases if fees were more transparent, indicating how quickly trust can break at the point of payment.
Several recurring friction points across the payment journey collectively contribute to value leakage:
Checkout breakdowns at the point of payment
Transactions may fail despite customer intent, often due to issuer declines, limited payment method availability, or inconsistencies in processing across markets. These failures occur at the final stage of conversion, where recovery is least likely.
Accumulated costs across fragmented payment flows
Cross-border transactions typically move through several intermediaries, each introducing additional fees or FX spreads. While these costs are not always immediately visible, they accumulate over time and have a direct impact on margins.
Delayed access to revenue after transaction completion
Settlement timelines can vary significantly depending on the number of institutions involved. Funds may take days to become available, creating a lag between recorded sales and useable cash. For businesses managing inventory cycles and reinvestment across markets, this delay has operational implications.
The significance of these inefficiencies lies in the stage at which they occur. In most cases, the customer has already completed the decision-making process and is attempting to transact. As a result, the issue is less about generating demand and more about ensuring that transactions are successfully completed and settled.
Payoneer’s white paper suggests that even partial improvements to payment and settlement inefficiencies can translate into meaningful commercial impact. Illustrative merchant scenarios in the report indicate that e-commerce businesses generating US$10–20 M in annual revenue could potentially restore US$150,000–300,000 in annual profit, equivalent to a 10–15% EBITDA uplift, without additional sales growth*.
As cross-border commerce becomes more complex, businesses are reassessing how their payment and financial operations are structured. Rather than managing payment acceptance, FX, and settlement as separate functions, there is a growing shift towards integrating these processes into a more coordinated flow. The objective is to reduce fragmentation and improve consistency across markets.
This includes enabling locally relevant payment methods, reducing intermediary layers, improving visibility across currencies, and shortening the time between transaction and access to funds.
“Checkout is where businesses either capture or lose value,” said Nagesh Devata, SVP of APAC at Payoneer.
“What we are seeing across Asia-Pacific is not a demand issue, but a coordination issue — where payments, FX, and settlement are handled in silos. Improving how these elements work together allows businesses to increase transaction success rates, reduce leakage across the payment journey, and gain more predictable access to revenue.”
As e-commerce across Asia-Pacific continues to scale, the efficiency of transaction execution is becoming as important as demand generation itself. The findings point to a broader shift in how growth is realised. Beyond attracting customers, businesses will need to ensure that transactions can be completed reliably across markets, costs are managed within increasingly complex payment flows, and revenue can be accessed in time to support ongoing operations, Payoneer said.
*Figures represent illustrative, order-of-magnitude estimates derived from publicly available third-party industry data, market benchmarks, and modelling assumptions:
- Baymard Institute, Reasons for Cart Abandonment, 2025
- Mckinsey & Company, E-commerce is entering a new phase in Southeast Asia. Are logistics players prepared?, 2022
- Bank for International Settlements, Shaping the future of payments, 2022
- Morgan Stanley Capital International, To Hedge or Not to Hedge? Lessons from History for US Equity Investors, 2025
- Treasury & Risk, Understanding the Cost of Hedging, 2021
- Bank for International Settlements, Global FX markets when hedging takes centre stage, 2025
- Xflow, Export payment terms, 2025
- World Bank Group, Lending interest rate, 2024
**Shopify, How to Reduce Shopping Cart Abandonment, 2025
***Citibank, The Rise of Cross-border E-commerce in Southeast Asia, and What’s Next, 2025
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