Southeast Asia’s credit card market

Credit Card Market Opportunities in Vietnam, the Philippines and Thailand

The credit card specialist discussed how these emerging markets could grow by 30-40% – and how this growth could be threatened by the perceived complexity of credit cards, high delinquency rates, and restrictive regulation. 

The former banking executive revealed that despite credit cards presenting the biggest opportunity from an overall dollar sense in most parts of Asia, the sector faces many hurdles including interchange and APR controls, while banks face huge setup costs. 

The Interview discussed how regulatory regimes could make or break the credit card market in Southeast Asia, with strict APR and repayment rules impacting banks’ ability to grow their businesses in the key regions. 

In addition, with the rising prevalence of e-wallets, the Interview debated whether it was too late to push cards onto the Asian market. However, the specialist believes the threat to credit card growth is low due to some Fintechs not being able to reach growth targets as easily as predicted or cross geographic boundaries easily. As a result, it could take 10 years before some of these wallets succeed, the specialist said. 

The banking executive identified the big players set to do well in the Southeast Asia card space. He also gave his expert opinion on product profitability across Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam, where the return on assets could be up to 16% for banks willing to commit to the region if the public buys into this new way of spending. 

To access all the human insights from Third Bridge’s Southeast Asian Credit Card Market Interview, click below to request the full transcript.