Adyen Report: 40% of Hong Kong Retailers Target Global Expansion Amid Rising Fraud Risks

Hong Kong retailers are aggressively targeting international expansion in 2026, but operational friction and rising fraud rates are stalling progress. For fintech professionals, this shift highlights a critical demand for unified payment platforms that can navigate fragmented regulatory landscapes and complex cross-border risk without requiring multiple localized vendor integrations or heavy technical overhead.

What was announced

The Adyen Retail Report 2026 reveals that 40% of large retailers in Hong Kong intend to enter new markets this year, allocating an average budget of HK$1.65 million for these initiatives. The primary targets for this growth are the EMEA and APAC regions. However, the report identifies significant barriers to success: 35% of merchants specifically noted that integrating AI into existing systems is extremely challenging, while 38% cited data privacy and security concerns as a major factor limiting their AI expansion.

Fraud has emerged as a primary obstacle to overseas growth. In the past 12 months, 88% of surveyed merchants were targeted or victimized by payment fraud, with average losses reaching HK$1 million. Refund fraud is the most common type, affecting half of retailers, followed by phishing, identity theft, and chargeback abuse. To combat this, merchants are increasingly looking toward unified platforms that offer dynamic risk management.

The report highlights several successful implementations of this unified approach. Limitless Technology Group, which owns brands like LVLY, Flower Chimp, and CakeRush, consolidated four payment gateways into a single platform with Adyen, allowing them to launch over ten online stores across four markets in just one week. Similarly, the developer GRYPHLINE used AI-driven fraud prevention for its Arknights game series to distinguish loyal players from bot networks. Additionally, Cathay Pacific expanded its partnership with Adyen to include Direct Acquiring services in markets such as India, where transaction authorization rates subsequently increased by 10%.

"International markets offer huge growth opportunities for Hong Kong retailers, but the key to success lies in building a solid business foundation. By partnering with the right payment provider, there is no need for individual system integrations in every region. Merchants who can flexibly adapt to local market needs will be better positioned for efficient and secure business expansion,"

Kai-Chun Tang, Head of Hong Kong at Adyen.

The companies involved

Adyen is a global financial technology platform that provides end-to-end payment capabilities, data-driven insights, and financial products in a single solution. Headquartered in Amsterdam, the firm has established a significant presence in the Asian market, particularly through its regional hub in Hong Kong. The company is known for its "single platform" philosophy, which aims to replace the traditional patchwork of gateways, risk management tools, and acquiring banks that many international retailers currently manage.

Adyen’s influence in the region is underscored by its work with major local entities like Cathay Pacific and the Limitless Technology Group, which manages brands such as LVLY, Flower Chimp, and CakeRush. By offering direct acquiring services in diverse markets—including the US, Japan, and India—Adyen positions itself as a critical infrastructure provider for businesses attempting to scale across borders without the operational burden of signing separate contracts for every new territory. The company’s focus on AI-driven fraud prevention and dynamic risk management has become a central part of its value proposition as merchants face increasingly sophisticated cyber threats and inconsistent regulatory systems.

What FF News has reported before

FF News has extensively tracked Adyen’s expansion and product evolution throughout 2026. In September, we covered how Adyen Partners with Limitless Technology to Scale E-commerce Gifting Across Asia-Pacific, a move that streamlined operations across six markets including Hong Kong, Singapore, and Australia. Earlier in June, the company addressed the growing intersection of retail and artificial intelligence by launching the Adyen Launches 'Agentic' Suite to Bridge the Gap Between Retailers and AI Commerce Platforms, designed to help merchants integrate AI into their commerce frameworks.

Beyond the retail sector, Adyen has expanded its financial services footprint through partnerships like the one with ROLLER and Adyen Launch Embedded Financing to Support 3,000+ Leisure Venues. The firm also collaborated with Adyen and Starling Bank Launch Tap to Pay for UK SMEs to Streamline Mobile Payments to enhance mobile payment capabilities for small businesses in the UK market.

What this means

The shift toward EMEA and APAC markets by Hong Kong retailers signals a move away from domestic reliance, but it exposes a massive "integration debt" in the industry. As 88% of merchants face fraud, the era of managing multiple local payment gateways and fragmented risk rules is becoming unsustainable. The market is under pressure to move toward "platformication," where compliance and risk are centralized. This raises a critical question for the sector: will the high cost of entry—HK$1.65 million on average—force smaller retailers out of the global race, or can unified fintech solutions lower the barrier enough to democratize international expansion for mid-market players?