In recent years, the Ant Group has been building a global cross-border payments network by partnering with or investing in banks, e-wallets, and other players.
2C2P is a Singapore-based company that helps enterprises in Southeast Asia move money across borders. According to an announcement released on Monday, Ant will form a strategic partnership with 2C2P and become its largest shareholder, though a figure for the acquisition wasn't disclosed. The Singaporean firm's network of merchants will be plugged into the Chinese firm's cross-border payments platform.
2C2P will be connected to a much larger merchant base and be well-positioned to advance its international expansion strategy as a result of this partnership.
Rather than building its own country-specific wallet from the ground up and acquiring the needed regulatory permits to operate such services, Ant has chosen the route of partnership. In 2020 it launched Alipay+ and has so far collaborated with a number of third-party payment methods, including banks and e-wallets.
When a user is traveling, working, or studying abroad, they may want to pay a local merchant in their home country's currency. If the retailer supports an e-wallet that works with Alipay+, the user can pay using the partnering wallet for the transaction, skipping the hassle of exchanging currency at a bank.
The business model that it has proven in China's mobile-first payments market over the years is the one that comes with a suite of marketing tools that allow merchants to offer deals and discounts for customer engagement.
The company has had globalizing goals for a long time and set out to target China's outbound tourists. While Alipay focuses on China's domestic consumers and merchants, its sister Alipay+ appears to be its ambition to go after users outside China who have similar cross-border payments needs.
The Chinese government ordered a regulatory change into its financial practices, which made some of its China-based businesses less lucrative. Increasing overseas expansion is a way to sustain growth.
More than 1 billion users in Asia and 1 million offline merchants across Europe and Asia have been served by Alipay+. It has connected payment providers to its customers on a number of platforms.
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