Singapore merchants see gaming demand surge on PayPal

Gaming, fashion and digital goods were the main categories bought internationally from Singapore businesses through PayPal's platform. Overseas shoppers made more than 135,000 transactions a day on average across the top 10 shopping categories.

In the 12 months from July 2025 to June 2026, Singapore merchants selling through PayPal reached more than 11 million international buyers in more than 100 markets. Those businesses processed an average of more than US$245 million in cross-border payments each month.

The United States, Germany, Mexico and Australia ranked among the main overseas markets buying from Singapore businesses. PayPal also highlighted demand from Vietnam, particularly for fashion and digital goods, as a sign that buying patterns are spreading beyond long-established destinations.

Category demand

Across all international purchases from Singapore sellers through PayPal, gaming ranked among the most purchased categories, alongside fashion and digital goods. The strongest overseas demand for Singapore gaming businesses came from the United States, Germany and Japan.

Fashion purchases were led by buyers in Mexico, Vietnam and the United States. For digital goods, the United States, Germany and Vietnam were the top markets.

The figures suggest Singapore-based online sellers are attracting demand from a mix of mature and newer cross-border markets, with category preferences differing by country. That spread may help some merchants reduce reliance on a small number of export destinations.

Payment patterns

In markets where PayPal Pay Later is available, shoppers most often used it when buying gaming, hotel and digital goods from Singapore businesses. Buy now, pay later orders were, on average, 2.4 times larger than those that did not use that payment method.

Branded checkout remained the main payment route for cross-border sales from Singapore on the platform, accounting for 87.2% of cross-border volume.

Its share was even higher in several categories. For Singapore gaming businesses, branded checkout made up 93.6% of cross-border volume, compared with 94.6% for digital goods and 80.7% for fashion.

PayPal also compared Singapore with other Asian markets in its network. Branded checkout represented 86.7% of cross-border volume in Hong Kong and 36.4% in India.

Globally, more than 167 million buyers made a cross-border purchase through PayPal, generating more than 3.4 billion transactions and over US$172 billion in cross-border payment volume for businesses selling internationally. Three-quarters of PayPal buyers shopped internationally more than once.

Matthew Lucas, Vice President and Head of Cross Border Trade at PayPal, said the company had focused on broadening how its most active customers use its services, including buy now, pay later options in markets where PayPal Pay Later is offered.

"A large focus for PayPal this year has been sharpening our offering to our most engaged consumers. This includes diversifying beyond PayPal Checkout to expand our Buy Now, Pay Later distribution with leading businesses, including those in Singapore, to consumers in markets where PayPal Pay Later is available. We are encouraged that international shoppers made over 135,000 transactions daily from Singapore businesses, demonstrating the connectivity that PayPal provides both Singapore businesses and global consumers through our platform," Lucas said.

He also pointed to category-level payment preferences in the data.

"PayPal's data also demonstrates that PayPal Pay Later is a top payment choice for international consumers when making gaming, hotel and digital goods purchases from Singapore businesses. As businesses power up for the year-end holiday season, those that understand where demand is strongest for their category and turn first-time buyers into repeat customers will be best placed to navigate evolving market conditions and sustain growth," Lucas said.

Century Games, a Singapore-headquartered mobile games publisher, said cross-border demand remains central to its business. The company identified the United States, Germany, Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia as important buyer markets for its titles.

"As a global publisher, the majority of our transactions are cross-border and PayPal does a fantastic job supporting our international growth. We're seeing gaming audiences become increasingly diverse geographically, with particularly strong demand from players in the United States, Germany, Canada, United Kingdom, and Australia. This means thinking globally while staying responsive to how player preferences differ by market. By seamlessly handling the entire checkout process along with critical backend operations like risk control and fraud management, PayPal enables us to operate with total confidence across more than 140 markets. We continue to see strong stickiness and trust among our players who choose PayPal to check out," said Xiang Shen, CTO of Century Games.