Ant International, a prominent global digital payment and financial technology provider, has made significant strides in enhancing its payment and digitalisation ecosystem through the introduction of AI-driven embedded finance solutions. This initiative aligns with the company's ambition to drive inclusive growth and transform its operations across key markets in Southeast Asia and South Asia.
In a press statement, Peng Yang, Chief Executive Officer of Ant International, highlighted the company's commitment to innovation, stating, “2024 has been a transformative year for Ant International. We are committed to advance inclusive growth through AI-powered innovation and collaboration on cross-border travel, trade, commerce, and inclusive finance.” The company has focused on leveraging advanced technologies to create a rich array of financial solutions tailored to the needs of over 11 million underserved small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and individuals.
Ant International operates through four main business pillars: Alipay+, Antom, WorldFirst, and Embedded Finance. Among its achievements in 2024, Alipay+, the company's cross-border mobile payment solution, has partnered with 35 leading mobile payment partners, which include various e-wallets, banking apps, and Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) services. This expansive network connects over 90 million merchants in 66 markets to approximately 1.6 billion user accounts. A notable aspect of this ecosystem is that more than 90% of the global merchants accepting QR code payments via Alipay+ are SMEs, underscoring the company's focus on fostering inclusive digital transformation.
In addition, cross-border transactions through Alipay+ have reportedly tripled year on year in 2024, reflecting its robust leadership position in the digital payment landscape. Antom, another pivotal part of Ant International, has also shown impressive growth, with its total payment volume through direct acquiring services nearly doubling from the same period last year. The company’s ability to enhance payment processing across multiple channels further solidifies its place in the market.
WorldFirst, acquired by Ant International five years ago, has established itself as a leading one-stop digital payment and financial services platform for global businesses, achieving a total payment volume (TPV) of US$100 billion in 2024—an increase of fourfold since 2020. WorldFirst has served over 1 million SMEs worldwide, accumulating a TPV surpassing US$300 billion.
Under the new Embedded Finance segment, which integrates AI and blockchain technologies, Ant International is dedicated to offering innovative financial solutions such as risk modelling, cross-border settlement, and inclusive lending services. A prime example of its efforts includes the introduction of a Time-Series Transformer AI FX Model that enhances treasury management efficiency for multinational merchants while reducing costs and uncertainties. This model boasts an impressive accuracy of over 90% in predicting real-time local currency needs.
Ant International's commitment to empowering micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) is evident through its bettr initiative, which provides inclusive credit services across emerging markets like Bangladesh and Indonesia. This financial service collaborates with local fintech partners to facilitate access to uncollateralized loans for more than 11 million unserved micro businesses and individuals, many of whom are first-time borrowers.
Looking towards the future, Yang stated, “In 2025, we will continue to be laser-focused on supporting SMEs across borders with AI-powered innovative and trusted payment, digitalisation, and inclusive financing solutions through expanded public- and private-sector collaboration.” This focus indicates Ant International's long-term strategic vision to leverage AI and technological advancements in transforming the financial landscape for SMEs around the world. Headquartered in Singapore, Ant International remains committed to providing a comprehensive range of tech-driven digital payment and financial services solutions to help businesses realise their growth aspirations.
Source: Noah Wire Services