Alternative Payment Methods Set to Increase by 170% Driven by a Surge in Domestic Digital Wallets, Instant and QR Payments

According to global intelligence firm ABI Research, the total combined worldwide value of transactions for the APM market (digital wallets, instant payments, and QR payments) will reach US$ 142 trillion by the end of 2030. This exponential growth is driven by an increasing number of countries looking for financial sovereignty rather than relying on international players.

“Growth of APMs in domestic markets is being galvanized by economies transitioning from cash to digital payments, like those in East Asia and Latin America. This drive is due to these economies not having to integrate an existing card-dominated payment ecosystem into their digital platform. Instead, they can start fresh from the ground up, which has led to an innovation-driven ecosystem and the rise of a richer shopping experience through super apps, as well as creating an opportunity to foster interoperability between domestic networks in other markets,” explains Ash Robinson, Analyst at ABI Research.

An estimated 45% of people globally used a digital wallet in 2024. China had the highest digital wallet usage, with 95% of people using WeChat (a Chinese Super app) in 2024. At the end of 2025, instant payments will total US27.94 trillion in transaction value, with this growth being driven heavily by Pix (Brazil) and UPI (India) as both platforms transition from an Instant Payment-only platform to one encompassing QR payments and wider digital wallet usage. In 2024, two-thirds of all global online payments were conducted through domestic Alternative Payment Methods (APMs), highlighting their increasing preference for online transactions.

“While niche in Europe and North America, QR payments have seen a large boom in cash-dominated markets in Asia-Pacific, making up most of the US$5.4 trillion of processed transactions. Like digital wallets, they offer substantially more than just the ability to process payments. Platforms like WeChat offer chat services and social media tied into their payment functions, creating a more community-based payment ecosystem than what is traditionally found in QR payment systems in Europe and North America,” Robinson concludes.

These findings are from ABI Research’s The Rise of Domestic Alternate Payment Systems report. This report is part of the company’s Digital Payment Technologies research service, which includes research, data, and ABI Insights.