Snapshot of Asia in 2021

YouGov have issued their 2021 Global Banking and Finance Report, having surveyed 1,000 people in 17 countries representing a nationally representative sample with three exceptions. These were China, where sampling was ‘online representative’, India ‘nationally urban representative’ and Mexico, which was nationally representative but with an urban bias. Six Asian countries were involved – Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia and Singapore.

The survey showed a clear shift away from cash in parts of Asia, although a skew in China and India’s sample set may be distorting the results.

One would expect other large countries in the region such as the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand etc. to be closer to Indonesia than to Singapore in their preferences. The preference for contactless payments perhaps gives an indication of change but also of a possible lag between preference and infrastructure, hence India’s scoring.