Major Asian Payment Systems

Abstract

Eastern and South Eastern Asia include some the world’s most dynamic economies, but the area remains fragmented from every viewpoint: politically, as parliamentary democracies cohabit with totalitarian and communist regimes; and economically, as advanced economies such as Japan, South Korea and Singapore coexist with emerging economies such as China and India. The same applies to the financial services industry with several centres vying for leadership: Tokyo, Hong Kong, Singapore and more recently Shanghai. Betting was split between Singapore and Hong Kong, the latter after having been overtaken, paradoxically regaining the lead after the handover to China which uses it as a springboard. Several Chinese enterprises chose to list on the Hong Kong exchange which boasts some of the most sophisticated infrastructures and access to investors worldwide. Geographically Hong Kong and Singapore suffer from limitations which might prevent them from gaining a sustainable leadership. The main rivalry today lies between Tokyo and Shanghai, but as both suffer from inherent weaknesses it is difficult to predict the outcome. Tokyo is certainly more advanced in terms of technology and financial maturity. It has launched a programme to upgrade its platforms to bring them on par with the other leading financial centres.