Banking

Mobile Payments Market : Alibaba’s Ant Financial Invests 20% in Thailand’s True Money

Asia Pacific is estimated to account for 50% of global payments revenue growth in 2015, when total payments revenues worldwide reached $898 billion, according to a 2012 McKinsey report.

Published

4 years ago

November 18, 2016

Zhang Fang

Ant Financial, the financial affiliate of Chinese e-commerce group Alibaba, announced yesterday that it has formed a strategic partnership with Bangkok-based digital payment company Ascend Money, tapping the multi-billion-dollar online and mobile payments market in Southeast Asia.

Ant Financial didn’t disclose the size of its investment in Ascend Money. It said it would help Ascend grow online and offline payments and financial services business. However, a statement posted in June by China’s Ministry of Commerce said Ant Financial intended to buy a 20% stake in Ascend, with an option to increase its holding to 30%.

Online and mobile-based purchases in Southeast Asia are expected to exceed $22 billion last year, according to a Forrester report citing data from Singapore-based mobile payment company MatchMove Pay.

Asia Pacific is estimated to account for 50% of global payments revenue growth in 2015, when total payments revenues worldwide reached $898 billion, according to a 2012 McKinsey report.

Its partner Ascend was separated from communication conglomerate True Corporation and is now a subsidiary of True’s parent company, Thailand’s Charoen Pokphand Group, which has businesses in agriculture, retail and telecommunications.

The company operates the True Money electronic wallet service and the Ascend Nano online lending platform. It has key licenses to operate in six Asian countries including Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Myanmar and Cambodia. True Money had 800,000 users as of February, according to the company.

Source: Alibaba’s Ant Financial Taps SE Asia’s Multibillion-Dollar Mobile Payments Market

Banking

APAC corporates likely to improve in 2021

Moody’s Investors Service says in a new report that credit conditions in APAC will improve in 2021, supported by the gradual recovery of economic activity given the early containment of the pandemic in several Asian economies.

Published

6 days ago

January 20, 2021

Pr News

Ongoing fiscal and monetary support in both advanced and emerging markets will also aid improving conditions, but renewed lockdowns in parts of the world have stalled the nascent global economic recovery and create uncertainty around improving credit conditions.

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Banking

Can Fintech drive a strong post-COVID-19 recovery in Asia?

The pandemic has highlighted the power of digital technology. Now is the time to harness this power for inclusive growth so that communities, especially in poor and remote areas, can survive the crisis and thrive.

Published

6 days ago

January 19, 2021

Asian Development Bank

To say 2020 has been a challenging year is a massive understatement. The COVID-19 pandemic has quickly undermined development gains from recent decades and slowed growth in many Asian economies.

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Banking

BoT sees mild impact of new COVID-19 wave on the economy

The Bank of Thailand (BoT) does not see the new wave of COVID-19 infections as having as much of an impact on the economy as the first wave, as fewer businesses have had to be suspended.

Published

1 week ago

January 18, 2021

National News Bureau of Thailand

BANGKOK (NNT) – Despite a new and wider wave of COVID-19 infections in the country, the Bank of Thailand (BoT) has assessed that the economic impact of the situation will not be as severe as the first wave as the effects of the virus are not as pronounced, and public health preparations, including plans for vaccination, are in place.

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