Ant International and SMBC sign pact on cross-border payments
The agreement covers support for Alipay+, Antom and WorldFirst, alongside potential technology collaboration on payments and treasury management.
Ant International and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) have signed a memorandum of understanding covering cross-border payments and potential business expansion across Japan, Singapore and Southeast Asia.
Under the agreement, SMBC will draw on its transaction banking capabilities and solutions from multiple markets to support Ant International’s Alipay+, Antom and WorldFirst businesses. The bank will also assist with improvements to the group’s cross-border payment operations and treasury management.
The companies plan to examine business and technical cooperation that would connect Ant International’s Whale RTP platform with SMBC’s digital payment and asset solutions. They aim to make treasury management across Ant International’s group entities more efficient and transparent, while supporting global liquidity management.
The three businesses serve different payment needs: Alipay+ offers mobile payment tools for cross-border use and digitalisation solutions; Antom provides merchant payment and digitisation services; and WorldFirst supplies global account services for businesses. Both companies expect digital technology advances to improve payments, remittances and treasury services.
