Regional Payment Preferences: Where APMs Matter Most

Different markets have different payment landscapes. Here's what matters in key regions:

Middle East and North Africa

APM adoption in MENA is significant. 85% of consumers in the region used at least one emerging payment method in 2022.

Cash on delivery remains popular, but digital adoption is accelerating with contactless payments having reached 94% penetration in Saudi Arabia and 84% in the UAE at the point of sale.

Digital wallets are also growing fast. 46% of the UAE population used mobile wallets like Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Payit for daily purchases as of 2024. In Saudi Arabia, local wallet STC Pay has attracted over 15 million users by 2024.

BNPL services are booming. More than 50% of consumers in the Middle East, North Africa, and Pakistan used BNPL in 2022. Major providers like Tabby and Tamara each boast around 10 million users across Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, UAE, and Bahrain.

Sub-Saharan Africa

Mobile money is king. M-Pesa processes billions of transactions in Kenya and neighboring countries. MTN Mobile Money operates across multiple markets. Airtel Money has significant reach. Card penetration remains low, making mobile-first payment options essential rather than optional.

Southeast Asia

Each country has its own dominant methods. GrabPay and GCash work in the Philippines. GoPay and OVO are major players in Indonesia. PromptPay enables instant bank transfers in Thailand. Touch 'n Go eWallet serves Malaysia. Supporting local wallets is critical for market entry.

Latin America

Pix transformed Brazilian payments practically overnight. OXXO cash payments dominate Mexico. Mercado Pago operates as a regional wallet across multiple countries. Local bank transfers and installment payments are common throughout the region.

Understanding these preferences helps you prioritize which APMs to implement first when entering or expanding in these markets.

How to Identify the Right APMs for Your Market

Before adding payment methods randomly, you need to understand what your customers actually use. Here's how to figure that out:

Analyze Your Customer Base

Start with your data. Where does your traffic come from? Which countries generate the most cart abandonments? Look at checkout analytics to see where people drop off. High abandonment at the payment step signals a mismatch between what you offer and what customers want.

Understanding end-user device preferences is crucial too. Mobile shoppers behave differently than desktop users. If most of your traffic comes from mobile devices, prioritize methods that work seamlessly on phones - digital wallets, saved payment options, and mobile money.

Research Local Payment Preferences

Every market has dominant payment methods. Look at the regional breakdown above as a starting point. Industry reports from payment providers often detail market preferences by country. Use these to inform your strategy, but validate against your own customer behavior.

Study Your Competitors

Look at what payment methods successful competitors in your market accept. If three major players all support Tabby in the UAE, there's a reason. They've done the research and seen the results.

Check competitor checkout pages directly. Note which methods they feature prominently. Pay attention to local players—they often understand regional preferences better than international brands trying to enter the market.

Survey Your Customers

When in doubt, ask. Simple post-purchase surveys or exit intent pop-ups can reveal what payment methods customers want. People will tell you if you give them the chance.

Work with an Experienced Payment Provider

The research, integration, and optimization work described above takes time and resources. But there's a faster path forward. Working with a payment orchestration platform like MoneyHash removes the guessing game entirely. With access to 300+ connections across 40+ markets and 150+ payment methods through a single integration, you can test different payment mixes without building each integration from scratch.

This approach gives you market flexibility to experiment with new payment methods quickly. Launch in a new country? Activate the relevant APMs and start processing payments immediately. See competitor offering a payment method you don't have? Add it without engineering sprints.

The result? Faster go-to-market, reduced chances of integration errors, better testing capabilities, and optimized revenue through the right payment mix for each market.

How MoneyHash Simplifies APM Integration

You've identified which APMs your customers want. Now comes the hard part - actually implementing them across multiple markets without the technical nightmare of managing dozens of provider integrations.