Conversation with EBANX Co-Founder and Global CEO João Del Valle: Emerging Markets Reshape the Core of Consumption, AI and Stablecoins Evolve Trading Order

The Daily Economic News reporter｜Tu Yinghao    The Daily Economic News editor｜Huang Sheng

As Qingming approaches, the spring spirit is in full swing. Recently, at a media briefing session along the Huangpu River, global payments platform EBANX released its annual flagship report, “Beyond Borders 2026,” sketching a “sailing map” for the next decade of the future of global digital commerce.

While global attention is still focused on traditional developed economies, EBANX’s report uses data to reveal a profound shift in the growth engine of global digital commerce—emerging markets are becoming the undeniable core driving force.

After the meeting, EBANX co-founder and Global CEO João Del Valle, along with Global Chief Product Officer and Singapore regional CEO Eduardo de Abreu, sat down for an exclusive interview with reporters from The Daily Economic News.

Eduardo believes that over the next ten years, more than 1 billion new digital consumers will emerge in emerging markets, but the “fragmentation” of the payment ecosystem will also exist alongside this.

The essence of transactions is being quietly reshaped by technological forces. The “Beyond Borders 2026” report reveals that two major trends are combining to drive this silent revolution: Agentic AI (agentic artificial intelligence) is beginning to take over consumer decision-making, while proactive search is gradually shifting to “AI doing the work”; at the same time, in emerging markets amid economic fluctuations, despite numerous problems, cryptoassets represented by stablecoins are transforming from speculative assets into a survival strategy—and are already a must-have for asset preservation.

“Together, these point to a highly automated, frictionless, and globally liquid new transaction order taking shape.” João said in the interview.

EBANX co-founder and Global CEO João Del Valle (photo provided by the interviewee)

Emerging markets drive the new decade of global digital consumption, and the payment ecosystem tilts toward localization

In conventional thinking, global consumption growth is often equated with high-income groups in developed economies. But the “Beyond Borders 2026” report points out: “Emerging markets will be the main engine of global growth in the next decade.”

The data-based projection behind this claim is even more optimistic—by 2036, emerging markets will add more than 1 billion consumers, driving a 32% increase in the global consumer base, far exceeding the mere 3% growth in developed economies. Among them, the consumer base in Sub-Saharan Africa, Southeast Asia, and India is expected to surge by 70% and 52%, respectively, while consumer spending is expected to rise by as much as 122% and 147%, respectively—far above the 49% seen in the U.S. and Europe.

The report also reveals a more critical structural change: the driver of this growth will no longer be only traditional high-income groups in the strict sense. In multiple emerging markets, including Vietnam, India, Nigeria, Kenya, Peru, and Brazil, the middle class and lower-middle-income groups have become the core contributors to online consumption.

In Vietnam, the middle class accounts for 86% of online consumption in total; in India, the middle class contributes 72% of digital consumption, reaching nearly 700 million people.

At the same time, the consumption main force also shows a clear trend toward younger users. In places like Nigeria, Kenya, and the Philippines, young users under 30 dominate high-growth segments such as gaming, streaming, and online education.

“Changes in this consumption-growth structure directly determine changes in payment methods,” Eduardo emphasized in the interview.

Report data show that credit card penetration in emerging markets is generally far lower than the 91% rate in developed countries—3% in the Philippines, 6% in India and Indonesia, and 44% in Brazil. Moreover, mainstream payment methods vary across different emerging markets. Localized payment options firmly dominate the ecosystem, such as India’s UPI (Immediate Payment System), Brazil’s Pix (a national real-time payment system), and digital wallets in the Philippines.

Eduardo noted that because these payment methods are fast, low-cost, and broadly accessible, they are widely used for personal transfers (P2P) and e-commerce payments, driving financial inclusion and growth in regional digital economies. This also means that if cross-border companies want to capture these “next-billion” consumers, they cannot rely solely on international credit card networks—they must compromise to a certain extent with the complex and diverse local payment ecosystem.

In 2012, it was precisely to help AliExpress enter Brazil’s market, which lacked international credit cards, that EBANX broke through successfully by integrating Boleto (a local bill payment method).

João said that today, Chinese companies expanding overseas—from early Alibaba to now SHEIN, Temu, BYD, Didi, Meituan, and others—have continued to expand into markets such as Latin America, and now many of them are already leading companies in relevant categories in the Brazil-Mexico market, with payment methods also being highly diversified, including credit cards and digital payment methods such as inter-account transfers (like Pix).

Eduardo concluded, “Connecting global merchants with localized payment ecosystems in emerging markets, so that consumers anywhere can buy global goods and services in the way they know best and find most convenient—this is the cornerstone of digital-era commerce and financial inclusion.”

The evolution of transactions——AI agents and a new stablecoin order

If payment ecosystem reconstruction solves the question of “how to pay,” then the evolution of transactions is trying to solve the questions of “who is paying” and “what is being paid for.”

With the explosion of Agentic AI (agentic artificial intelligence), consumers are gradually shifting from proactive search to letting “AI handle it.” Survey data show that currently about 10% of consumers have started online shopping flows via AI, while 20% of consumers say they are willing to let AI complete purchases on their behalf.

In addition, Eduardo shared a forward-looking data point in the interview—by 2030, up to 30% of global e-commerce transaction value will be influenced by Agentic AI. There’s no doubt this is a relatively disruptive concept.

In the past, we were used to browsing, comparing prices, and placing orders on Amazon or Taobao. But today, in 2026, e-commerce has begun shifting from browsing-style shopping to “conversational purchasing.” Consumers may no longer need to open web pages; they only need to tell the AI: “I need a shirt suitable for summer, with a budget around 100 yuan.” The AI agent will automatically complete the entire process, including searching, price comparison, placing the order, and even payment.

Eduardo believes that for cross-border payments, this means the disappearance of the “checkout experience.” In the future, payments will be a series of automated instructions carried out by AI in the background. The AI channel will intelligently route and select an optimal payment path in the most efficient way. This can improve the checkout experience, rather than it being at the moment the user clicks “confirm payment.”

At the same time, this also brings new risks. As Eduardo worries: “If the AI buys the wrong item, who is responsible?” Is it the user, the platform, or the AI developer? This requires cross-border payment service providers not only to handle the flow of funds, but also to have the capability to manage AI intent recognition, anti-fraud, and responsibility allocation.

If Agentic AI solves the question of “who is paying,” then what remains is another question—“what is being paid for”?

In the charts presented in “Beyond Borders 2026,” digital currencies are growing the fastest in emerging markets. In countries such as Brazil, Argentina, Thailand, and Vietnam, more than 15% of the population holds digital currencies, while in Turkey the figure is close to 20%. Meanwhile, stablecoins are gradually becoming a key financial infrastructure: in Argentina, about 20% of the population uses crypto, 90% of which is stablecoins.

This reveals another side of emerging markets: macroeconomic instability. In countries with high inflation like Argentina, the purchasing power of local fiat currencies shrinks rapidly. For local consumers, holding stablecoins becomes a survival strategy—already a must-have for asset preservation.

In the interview, João pointed out two major characteristics of stablecoins: speed and accessibility. Compared with certain infrastructure network gaps that exist in the SWIFT system, stablecoins provide near-instant global liquidity. But João also acknowledged that there is not yet a fully shared consensus on who the relevant stablecoin sovereign entity is. It requires capital controls, anti-money-laundering measures, and counter-terrorism regulations to help people use cryptoassets more effectively.

This is the blueprint outlined by “Beyond Borders 2026,” and it also serves as a hint for cross-border businesses—roughly the next billion consumers in emerging markets may coexist with payment fragmentation, while technological leaps will reshape the essence of transactions. For Chinese companies going overseas, understanding these means securing the entry ticket to the next decade of consumption gold.

Cover image source: photo provided by the interviewee