Southeast Asia has built one of the world’s fastest-growing digital payment ecosystems, yet it has not applied the same infrastructure to charitable giving at scale. Around 71 per cent of Southeast Asians already use digital payments regularly, and the region’s digital payment market is projected to reach between US$2.1 trillion and US$2.4 trillion by 2030. Despite this, adoption of digital giving continues to lag. The study identifies this disconnect as Southeast Asia’s “digital giving paradox”.
The study’s central finding is that this is a gap in design and systems, not a gap in generosity. The region’s traditions of mutual assistance, such as gotong-royong and bayanihan, alongside its diverse religious giving practices, demonstrate a strong will to give. What is missing is giving that is embedded into the digital ecosystems people already use every day: e-wallets, payment rails, super-apps, and commerce platforms. As Programme Director Citra Nasruddin observed, what the region is seeing is not a gap in generosity but a gap in design; when giving is simple, trusted, and integrated into daily digital experiences, participation rises.
The report finds that, across the region, digital giving has scaled most successfully when four conditions are in place: giving is embedded into everyday digital experiences; trust is built through credible and transparent platforms; donation journeys are simplified while accountability is maintained; and access is expanded to underserved communities. A central contribution of the study is the Digital Giving Maturity Framework, a practical tool that helps fintech platforms, non-profits, and policymakers assess the maturity of current digital giving ecosystems and identify where coordinated action in technology, partnerships, and ecosystem design can accelerate progress.
The session opened with remarks from Ant International, followed by a scene-setting presentation on the study’s key findings and a moderated panel structured around three themes: trust and the spirit of giving, closing the gaps, and the way forward. Together, these drew out the report’s arguments through perspectives from payments, policy, academia, and digital enablement.
Participants
This was a public session at the Philanthropy Asia Summit 2026; remarks were attributable and on record. Participants are listed below for reference.
Opening Remarks
- Ms Carrie Suen, Vice President and Head of Global Affairs and Strategic Development, Ant International
Scene-Setting
- Mr Fairoz Ahmad, Programme Fellow, Tech for Good Institute (TFGI)
Moderator
- Ms Citra Nasruddin, Programme Director, Tech for Good Institute (TFGI)
Panellists
- Mr Kithmina Hewage, Director of Policy Engagement, Centre for Asian Philanthropy and Society (CAPS)
- Associate Professor Daniel Goh, Vice-Dean (Special Programmes), NUS College
- Ms Marie Soon, Vice President, Sustainable Solutions and Financial Inclusion, Core Payments, Asia Pacific, Mastercard
- Mr Nicholas Ten, Chief Commercial Officer, EPOS (a brand of Ant International)
Key Takeaways
- Digital Giving: A design gap, not a generosity gap
Southeast Asia is among the most generous regions in the world, anchored in cultural traditions of mutual assistance and in diverse religious practices. Yet even as roughly 71 per cent of the population regularly uses digital payments, digital giving lags behind. The report frames this as the “digital giving paradox”: the barrier is neither generosity nor technology, but persistent frictions such as trust deficits, regulatory constraints, capacity gaps in the non-profit sector, and behavioural barriers. The more productive question, the discussion suggested, is how giving can be designed back into the digital experiences people already trust and use.
- Trust as the foundation of digital giving
The first theme centred on trust. Digital giving is never only about the mechanics of a payment; it is rooted in emotional trust between donor, platform, and cause. The challenge, therefore, is not only to move giving online but also to scale trust alongside it through credible, transparent platforms, verifiable impact, and the deliberate preservation of human connection, even as the act of giving moves to a screen. Panellists drew on what has already worked in commercial payments, where seamless and secure experiences earned mass adoption, and asked how the same trust architecture can be intentionally designed into giving.
- Closing the gaps: non-profit readiness and inclusive design
The second theme turned to the practical barriers. The primary bottleneck is often not donor behaviour but non-profit readiness (operational capacity, digital skills, and storytelling), now compounded by a widening gap in access to AI. Discussion cautioned that frictionless “tap-and-go” giving, while powerful, risks leaving some donor segments behind and depersonalising philanthropy if not designed inclusively. Closing the gaps will require practical partnerships across payments, policy, and platforms, rather than expecting smaller non-profits to bridge them alone with an online donation page and the hope that more people will give.
- The way forward: cross-sector collaboration and embedded giving
The third theme focused on what it will take to scale. No single sector can build a strong digital giving ecosystem alone; the path forward is targeted, cross-sector action that aligns incentives, infrastructure, and experience design to improve interoperability, reduce friction, and strengthen trust. Concrete ideas raised included regulatory sandboxes and an ASEAN-level digital giving observatory. As Carrie Suen of Ant International put it, the opportunity now is to build giving into the systems people already use, removing friction for the many who wish to contribute to their communities.
