At the 2024 Japan Fintech Festival, Yang Peng, CEO of Ant International, recently discussed the company’s perspectives on how artificial intelligence (AI) and digital payment solutions may advance global trade and tourism.
With the help of many partners, including PayPay, Alipay+, Ant foreign’s cross-border mobile payment and marketing solution, enables users of 16 foreign e-wallets and bank applications to enjoy seamless payment choices at more than 1.5 million merchants throughout Japan. Particularly among users from Kaokao Pay (South Korea), AlipayHK (Hong Kong SAR, China), GCash (the Philippines), and Touch ‘n Go eWallet (Malaysia), transactions and processing volume have increased significantly.
“Japan is the birthplace of the QR code and the mobile revolution,” said Yang. “With mobile payment, international travelers are going farther and wider for more unique and immerse experience, spending money at smaller shops, many of whom simply do businesses with a QR code. The transaction volume is growing very fast.”
The Alipay+ Cross-Border Mobile Payment Service was introduced in 2020 and presently links 1.5 billion customer accounts across more than 25 e-wallets and banking applications to over 88 million merchants in 57 countries and regions. Customers may travel and make payments anywhere in the world with ease thanks to this, and businesses can use digital marketing techniques and foster cross-border customer involvement.
Alipay+’s extensive network of regional alliances, which includes agreements with national QR programmes like as SGQR in Singapore, PayNet in Malaysia, ZeroPay in South Korea, and LankaPay in Sri Lanka, supports the service.
AI Leading the Way in Safe Real-Time Payments for Global Trade
AI has the potential to become the cornerstone of industrial cooperation and product creation, especially with the emergence of open banking and other cutting-edge projects. Ant International actively works with partners to harness AI technology in a number of sectors, such as creating FX services driven by AI, customising marketing strategies for international companies, improving risk management, and thwarting fraud in cross-border payments and FX operations.
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Developing Skill for the Future Asia’s Digital Economy
Yang underlined the enormous market potential of Asia, noting its large population, growing economic opportunities, and broad base of SMEs looking to adopt digital transformation. In addition to payment solutions, Alipay+ works with partners to provide SMEs a growing range of digital tools. Alipay+ D-store, an all-in-one, affordable ordering solution created to transform the checkout process, enable retailers to embrace digitalization, and spur revenue development, has been used by over 5,000 microbusinesses in Southeast Asia.
Offering businesses simple solutions for their internationalisation or localization journeys, Ant International positions itself as a “connector” that facilitates mobile payment connectivity, gives its partners financial accessibility, and pioneers solutions to address challenges in the payments and digital operations space.
“The key to building a vibrant, sustainable future digital economy is a vibrant talent pool,” Yang said. “Ant International has extensive partnerships with regional public and private sectors on training next-gen innovators with technology strength and cross-sector insights,” Yang continued, “We look forward to working with local partners in Japan to facilitate growth of young talents in the financial and digitalization sectors.”
