Jakarta. Ovo, an e-wallet backed by Indonesian conglomerate Lippo Group, is now the most popular payment service in Indonesia, ahead of Gojek Indonesia's GoPay, Emtek-backed Dana and debit cards, according to a recent report from global fintech company Rapyd.

The annual report, titled "Asia Pacific E-Commerce and Payment Study," analyzed the financial behavior and preferences of over 3,500 consumers in Indonesia, India, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand during April this year. 

The report shows 33 percent of Indonesian consumers prefer digital payment methods over 19.2 percent who prefer conventional cards and cash, while 44 percent still use virtual bank transfer.

In comparison, around 51 percent of Indian consumers choose to use e-wallets and 33.9 percent prefer cash and cards. Only a handful, 11.9 percent, regularly use bank transfers.

Around 69 percent of Indonesian respondents said they had used OVO to make cashless payments in the past month. 

Debit cards came second (67 percent), followed by ATM transactions (64 percent) and GoPay e-wallet (62 percent).

Around 17 percent of Indonesian consumers prefer OVO over other payment services, positioning it as the most-preferred payment method. 

BCA's internet payment service KlikBCA follows in second place (12.2 percent), with ATM (10.4 percent) and Dana e-wallet (8.6 percent) not far behind. 

Debit cards are now less popular, preferred by only 5.2 percent of Indonesian consumers despite appearing to be one of the most frequently used payment methods.

Cash over the counter is even less popular, with only 2.8 percent of consumers showing a preference for it.

The report also revealed Indonesians spend more on fashion and beauty products and food deliveries than on any other products or services over e-commerce platforms. 

The least popular e-commerce products are pet accessories, automotive parts and baby supplies.

Joel Yarbrough, Rapyd's vice president for Asia Pacific, said the report was written to help businesses understand local market and consumer behaviors.

"With this report, Rapyd provides businesses with the local market insights on payment behaviors, brands of choice and technologies that are critical in creating a relevant checkout experience for consumers today," Yarbrough said in a statement on Monday.

He said digital market is turning into a necessity rather than an option, especially during a pandemic.

"Since the beginning of the global pandemic, going digital is no longer optional. E-commerce is now the new baseline. All over Asia, we see stratospheric growth in digital payment methods," Yarbrough said.

Rapyd expects the thriving e-commerce market would boost Southeast Asia's internet economy to $300 billion by 2025.

Last year, the region's internet economy hit $100 billion in total value. Indonesia's e-commerce market is now worth $13.6 billion, and its mobile commerce market $7.1 billion.