Ant Group’s chairman puts his faith in global expansion and pledges to support SMEs in Singapore speech

Jing said that Ant is working with partners to support growth in four areas – travel, trade, technology and talent

Ant wants to boost ‘digital payments and digital commerce’ through Alipay+, its cross-border mobile payments service

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Ant Group’s chairman doubles down on global expansion and faith in SMEs. Photo: SCMP

Ann Caoin Shanghai

Published: 7:00am, 17 Nov 2023

Eric Jing Xiandong, chairman and CEO of Ant Group, is doubling down on global expansion of the fintech giant and has reiterated the company’s determination to support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

Jing told the Singapore Fintech Festival on Thursday that it is time for Ant, an affiliate of Alibaba Group Holding, to seek more growth in overseas markets after it unveiled a four-pronged global expansion strategy on Tuesday to push outwards from its new Singapore office. Alibaba owns the South China Morning Post.

“The opportunity is about innovation using technology to make financial services accessible to everyone, to every SME. That’s our journey,” said Jing.

Under its international expansion strategy, Jing said that Ant is working with partners to support growth in four areas – travel, trade, technology and talent. “We are sharing AI-driven risk tech, credit tech and payment tech with partners in an open collaborative ecosystem,” Jing said.

Ant International, the international business unit of Ant that sited its headquarters in the city state in September, said it will boost “digital payments and digital commerce” through Alipay+, its cross-border mobile payments service, along with other services for sellers and SMEs.