Hong Kong – Ant International and Bank of China (Hong Kong) (BOCHK) have formed a strategic partnership to develop AI-driven financial services, real-time treasury management, and cross-border payment infrastructure.
The alliance merges BOCHK’s institutional banking infrastructure across Southeast Asia with Ant International’s digital finance capabilities to serve global enterprises and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
Sun Yu, Vice Chairman and Chief Executive of BOCHK, said, “BOCHK is committed to promoting cross-border financial connectivity, with deep expertise in areas such as cross-border payments, treasury management, and fintech. We are pleased to join forces with Ant International, an industry-leading fintech company, not only to explore innovative cross-border financial service solutions, but also to advance fintech innovation and application in Hong Kong, fostering mutually beneficial cooperation in cross-border finance across Southeast Asia.”
“Capitalising on our extensive experience in cross-border personal payment settlements and corporate global liquidity management, as well as our unique strength as Bank of China’s Southeast Asia regional headquarters, BOCHK is dedicated to providing Ant International and its clients with secure and efficient cross-border financial services,” Yu also added.
Highlighting the newest collaboration, Eric Jing, Chairman of Ant International, stated, “We are proud to forge a strategic partnership with BOCHK, a trusted collaborator since 2013. By combining BOCHK’s strengths with Ant International’s, we are bringing our shared vision to life – ensuring seamless and accessible financial payments for every business and everyone.
“We look forward to creating even stronger synergy together, bridging our ecosystems to elevate customer satisfaction and deliver the next generation of seamless experiences that empower our users in their everyday lives,” Jing continued.
Under the agreement, BOCHK will supply supporting account and settlement banking infrastructure to Alipay+, Ant International’s unified wallet gateway connecting over 50 mobile payment partners and two billion user accounts across Southeast Asia and global markets.
Furthermore, the institutions will integrate consumer banking functions within Hong Kong, enabling BOCHK clients to link accounts and credit cards directly to AlipayHK for peer-to-peer transfers, merchant payments, and top-ups, alongside upcoming joint marketing initiatives.
On the corporate front, Ant International’s embedded finance unit, Bettr, will collaborate with BOCHK to design real-time cash flow and investment tools using distributed ledger technology and asset tokenisation.
The two firms will additionally deploy artificial intelligence models alongside BOCHK’s foreign exchange pricing engines to build automated treasury services for international businesses.
To assist expanding merchants, global account provider WorldFirst will coordinate with BOCHK to deploy integrated cross-border fund management tools across more than 220 countries and regions.
