Mastercard Pushes for Password-Free Payments in Asia Pacific by 2030

Mastercard sets its sights on a password-free and number-free online shopping future across Asia Pacific by 2030, accelerating digital payment security and convenience through tokenization and biometric authentication.

• Frictionless Future: Mastercard aims to make all online shopping across Asia Pacific password-free and number-free by 2030 through secure tokenization and biometric authentication.
• Regional Acceleration: After success in India, Mastercard is targeting complete tokenization rollout in Singapore, Malaysia, and Vietnam by 2027, driving the region’s rapid digital payment growth.
• Safer Transactions: Tokenized checkouts are showing a 6% rise in approval rates and generating over USD 2 billion in monthly sales while cutting fraud and boosting customer trust.

At the recent Singapore FinTech Festival, Mastercard revealed an ambitious plan to eliminate passwords and manual card entry from online shopping experiences across Asia Pacific by 2030. The company’s long-term vision: every digital payment in the region should be secure, seamless, and friction-free.

Currently, more than a third of Mastercard’s global transactions are already tokenized. But achieving total password-free and number-free commerce in a region projected to surpass USD 7 trillion in e-commerce sales by 2030 will take unified collaboration among banks, merchants, regulators, and tech partners.

Tokenization replaces sensitive card details with encrypted digital tokens, while biometric authentication (such as fingerprints or facial recognition) ensures that only authorized users can make payments. This combination not only reduces fraud but also enhances the overall shopping experience by removing the frustration of entering long card numbers or resetting forgotten passwords.

Accelerating Adoption in Key Southeast Asian Markets

Building on its successful rollout in India, where Mastercard collaborated with regulators, banks, and merchants to achieve near-complete e-commerce tokenization, the company is now turning its focus to Singapore, Malaysia, and Vietnam.

These markets are at the forefront of Southeast Asia’s digital transformation. According to projections, digital payments will account for 94% of all e-commerce transactions by 2028, representing a market value of USD 325 billion. Mastercard plans to fully enable tokenized payments in these countries by 2027, setting the stage for broader adoption across the Asia Pacific region.

The goal is to create an interconnected digital payment ecosystem where consumers can shop securely on any device, at any merchant, without the need for passwords or manual data entry.

Addressing Checkout Friction and Fraud

As online shopping continues to expand, so do its security challenges. Card-not-present fraud remains seven times higher than in-store fraud, with global losses expected to surpass USD 100 billion by 2029. At the same time, eight out of ten shoppers abandon their online carts, and nearly half cite complicated checkout processes as the reason.

To solve these problems, Mastercard is scaling its “Click to Pay” service and embedding tokenization into every layer of the payment chain. This enables fast, secure, and consistent checkout experiences across websites, apps, and digital wallets.

For consumers, this means one-step payments and fewer declined transactions. For merchants, it translates to higher approval rates, improved security, and greater sales potential.

Tangible Results: Better Conversion, Stronger Trust

Mastercard’s data highlights the real-world benefits of tokenization. In markets where the technology has gone live, approval rates have increased by up to 6%, generating more than USD 2 billion in extra monthly sales for merchants.

Retailers are also seeing faster, more reliable checkouts that drive customer satisfaction and loyalty. Digital wallets are becoming more interoperable, enabling users to make tokenized payments at over 150 million Mastercard-accepted merchants worldwide.

Sandeep Malhotra, Executive Vice President for Core Payments, Asia Pacific, Mastercard, explained the company’s vision: “The vision is simple: no passwords, no manual card entry, no friction. By uniting the industry, Mastercard is accelerating adoption of tokenization and payment passkeys to create a single, secure experience for password-free payments. As a result, approval rates are rising, fraud is falling, and millions of shoppers are enjoying faster, safer checkouts. Partners who join this movement will help shape the future of intelligent commerce in Asia Pacific.”

From Digital to Intelligent Commerce

The rise of password-free and tokenized payments marks the beginning of a new phase in commerce evolution. Just as consumers once transitioned from cash to digital, Mastercard envisions the next leap as a shift from digital to intelligent commerce.

Artificial intelligence, real-time data, and interconnected networks are enabling the creation of “agentic commerce,” where secure digital assistants can shop and pay on behalf of consumers. Tokenization and passkeys form the technological backbone for this future — empowering trusted systems to transact safely, instantly, and intelligently.

This vision goes beyond convenience. It’s about redefining how people, businesses, and devices interact in a world that values both privacy and personalization.

Global Success Setting the Stage

Mastercard’s regional roadmap takes inspiration from its groundbreaking Payment Passkey Service launched in India. Through partnerships with top banks and major online retailers, Mastercard successfully introduced device-based biometric checkout to millions of users.

That pilot project demonstrated how digital passkeys could make authentication both more secure and more intuitive — removing the need for passwords while ensuring each transaction is verified by the shopper’s own device.

The success of that initiative is now serving as a blueprint for Mastercard’s broader Asia Pacific rollout, as the company aims to replicate and expand its impact across the region’s booming e-commerce markets.

A Future Without Passwords?

By 2030, Mastercard envisions a connected payment landscape where checkout is as simple as a tap, glance, or fingerprint. No more typing card numbers or memorizing passwords — just smooth, secure, and intelligent payment experiences.

With its partners across Asia Pacific, Mastercard is pushing toward that future at full speed. And if the current trajectory continues, consumers and merchants alike could soon enjoy a checkout process that’s not just faster but smarter, safer, and ready for the next era of intelligent commerce.