How digital payments are transforming our lives?

🎥 Feb 28, 2025 📺 World Governments Summit ⏱ 1m 👁 499 views

How digital payments and mobile technology are driving greater financial inclusion? #WorldGovSummit #WGS25.

About Warren Hayashi

Warren Hayashi, President of Asia-Pacific at Adyen, has discussed the role of digital payments in driving financial inclusion, particularly in Africa, where he described a "marriage between the bank, the fintechs, and the agent network" as a unique factor in the region's adoption of digital payments. He stated that "the ubiquity of mobile connectivity is so important to drive digital" and emphasized the need for education and engagement at the grassroots level to bring consumers onto digital platforms. Hayashi also said that "necessity is the mother of invention" and that societies can become "far more prosperous" when finance is available and money can move efficiently, adding that governments can "learn best practices from another government." In earlier interviews, Hayashi discussed the fragmented payments landscape in Asia-Pacific, noting that consumer payment preferences vary widely across countries Pythagoras. He stated that Adyen integrates not only major credit card brands but also local methods such as Alipay, WeChat Pay, and UnionPay, as well as ATM and online banking options. He described the future of payments as "unified commerce," where retailers no longer think in terms of pure online or pure in-store, and said that "the consumer is expecting more now" as they move between channels. Hayashi also commented on millennial shopping habits, citing research that 50 percent of millennials prefer an in-store experience as part of their shopping routine.

Source: AI-verified profile updated from Warren Hayashi's recent appearances. Browse all interviews →

Transcript (1 segments)

Warren Hayashi0:00

Africa is kind of ahead of most of the other world in terms of digital payments, etc. One of the unique reasons for that is that it's a marriage between the bank, which is the regulated entity, the fintechs, which keep coming up with newer solutions, then our partners, the agent network. Ubiquity of mobile connectivity is so important to drive digital, making sure that once they are on a digital platform, it's engaging for them, they can help drive their needs as a consumer. How do you have somebody far off in the far off areas as an agent work with the end consumer? How do you educate them? And that's where a lot of the engagement with society at the grassroots level comes in. So when you put all of this together, it works, and the impact is phenomenal. So it's all these things come together in terms of creating the solution, giving the consumers the ability and tools to use them, and then replicating that in others. So this is one where governments really need to learn best practices from another government. What's very important is to make sure that finance is available, money can move efficiently. Necessity is the mother of invention. We have invented so many solutions, we are ahead of the curve, and I think we're going to have a society that's going to be far more prosperous because finance is what keeps the wheels of the economy going, and that's what we are doing.