Preface

From swiping to contactless cards payments, we have conveniently moved from cash to a cash-free world over the last decade. Payment systems have changed faster than ever and especially in Asia. Contactless and mobile payments have seen a considerable boom, especially in response to increasing demand of e-commerce growth and, more recently, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The digital economy is growing exponentially thus eliminating cash payments completely. With credit cards came the idea of paying with plastic, with cashless transactions it simply means that there will be no need for any physical representation of money in the future at all. While these new payment methods have opened up a world of opportunities for merchants and consumers alike but they also come with challenges that need to be addressed and with a need to enable easy adoption at large. With this in purview, we at Sapphire Connect are glad to present to you the 2nd Annual PayGround E-Summit 2021 – Asia Edition. The summit is centered on the theme “Instant. Accessible. Universal.” This summit will witness a pragmatic mix of content discussing on the rapid transformation, the needs for effectively identifying and implementing the most relevant solutions that can help to further optimize the existing system and unlock new business opportunities.