On 2024 International MSME Day, Ant International, a digital payment and financial services provider, shares that it supports almost 100 million Micro, Small, and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs) worldwide across its businesses and partner programs; and reinforces its commitments towards MSME digitalization and inclusion through the expansion of its services, new programs for skills development with industry partners, and a new global campaign.
Douglas Feagin, President of Ant International said:
“MSMEs are the lifeblood of our economies, driving innovation, employment, and inclusive development. Their resilience and entrepreneurial spirit deserve to be celebrated and nurtured. At Ant International, we firmly believe in the power of small and that small businesses can make a big impact. Fintech innovations today unlock new possibilities for small businesses to dream boldly and compete globally. Together with our partners, we want to ensure that every business and every person will have access to the knowledge, network, and digital tools to help them achieve their goals.”
Empowering growth for MSMEs through digitalization
Across its businesses, Ant International “offers solutions that enable MSMEs to digitalize, opening new growth opportunities.”
Alipay+, the cross-border mobile payments and marketing solutions “operated by Ant International, announced an expansion of its global acceptance.”
As of June 2024, Alipay+ is accepted by “over 90 million merchants in over 66 markets, connecting businesses to users of 30 international payment partners.”
With travel picking up and tourism a key driver of many local economies, this “enables many small businesses to connect with global mobile-first consumers in a simple, cost-efficient manner.”
A key development in driving digitalization at scale is “through Alipay+’s integration with national QRs. Alipay+ is currently integrated with the national QRs of Singapore, Malaysia and South Korea, which counts MSMEs as majority of its merchants.”
In Singapore, Alipay+ transactions at hawker stalls “have increased 52% in H1 2024, compared to H2 2023. In Malaysia and South Korea, Alipay+ transactions increased 44% and 54% respectively via PayNet and ZeroPay, in Q2 vs Q1 2024. Alipay+ also has partnerships with national QRs in Cambodia, Nepal and Sri Lanka.”
As a leading provider of digital payment solutions, Antom supports merchants “of all sizes, including MSMEs, across over 40 countries and regions.”
Through a single integration, Antom connects them “to more than 250 payment methods in over 150 markets. Its D-store solution enables MSME merchants to digitalize their operations and set up an online store in just 10 minutes with zero upfront cost. Over 5000 outlets have already onboarded this solution, with average monthly transactions growing by 27% in Q2 vs Q1 2024.”
In supporting MSMEs to do business globally, WorldFirst empowers “more than 1 million SMEs with international payments to 200+ markets in over 100 currencies.”
To enable more SMEs to do cross-border trade, WorldFirst will “expand to more markets in Southeast Asia and Europe this year. ANEXT Bank, a digital wholesale bank incorporated in Singapore, recently celebrated its second anniversary, with two times year-on-year increase in its customer base, of which 69% are micro businesses.”
To further support regional MSMEs, ANEXT Bank has introduced its second batch of SME Friends of ANEXT with forward-thinking small and growing businesses to co-create the “digital bank of tomorrow”.
Ant International has also recently unveiled bettr, “a new global digital lending service to provide micro lending to MSMEs through embedded finance partnerships, further accelerating financial inclusion.”