Ant Group, the financial technology affiliate of Alibaba Group Holding, said it has formed a strategic partnership with Singapore-based payments platform 2C2P under a deal that will see the Alipay operator become the firm’s majority shareholder.
The move is expected to boost the payment options of Ant’s Alipay+, a cross-border digital payment service introduced in 2020, which can process a wide range of mobile payment methods from around the world. Alibaba owns the South China Morning Post.
That service now has 250 payment options, including Kakao Pay in South Korea, AlipayHK in Hong Kong, and Klarna in Europe.
With 2C2P, those options would expand to include even more e-wallets and local payment methods, according to Ant and 2C2P’s joint statement.
2C2P offers payment acceptance, issuing, payout, as well as other value-added solutions to merchants across the e-commerce, financial services, airlines, travel, hospitality, and retail sectors.
It has built a strong presence across key markets in Asia including Thailand, Singapore, and Malaysia.
Fintech giant Ant also said that the Alipay+ service now has more than 1 billion users in Asia through Kakao Pay and NaverPay in South Korea, AlipayHK, Touch ‘n Go eWallet in Malaysia, GCash in the Philippines, and Dana in Indonesia.
The number of offline merchants with access to Alipay+ has surpassed 1 million across Asia and Europe. These merchants are mainly in the tourism, retail, and hospitality industries.
The strategic partnership with 2C2P signals Ant’s sharpened focus on growth, as a restructuring process to meet tougher Chinese regulations nears completion.
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